JP4941871B2 - Broadcast receiving apparatus and broadcast receiving method - Google Patents

Description

  In the present invention, when a message from a broadcasting station or the like is received, the message is displayed for the first time when any user operation is performed without ignoring the convenience of the user, and the display is the program of the user. The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus and a broadcast receiving method that can be performed without disturbing viewing.

  In digital broadcasting or the like, a message may be transmitted to a viewer from a broadcast station or the like to a broadcast receiving device used by the viewer (reception contractor). This message is, for example, a notice regarding a free broadcast date of a pay broadcast or a notice regarding a failure to make a recording reservation for a broadcast program. When a broadcast receiving device or the like receives such a message, conventionally, for example, an LED lamp provided in the broadcast receiving device main body has been lit to notify the viewer of the message. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a digital satellite broadcasting device capable of notifying that a mail has been received by blinking of an LED lamp when a mail addressed to an individual from a broadcasting center is received (patent). Reference 1).

  Also, a technique for displaying such a message on a display screen of a broadcast receiving apparatus in an easy-to-understand manner and efficiently has been known. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique related to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that can decode received message information and display it on a display screen (see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-150463 JP 2004-207930 A

  However, in the conventional method, for example, in the case of a method of turning on the LED lamp provided in the receiving device when a message is received, it is only possible to know that the message has been received, or the viewing position of the receiving device and the user is When it was far away, it was difficult to visually recognize the lighting of the LED lamp. And I couldn't immediately know the message content and attributes (whether it was an important message, etc.). Further, according to this method, it is necessary to provide hardware for lighting the LED lamp separately from the display screen, and LEDs such as a power supply LED, a remote control signal light receiving LED, and a timer LED are arranged together. Since space is also required, there has been a problem that the receiving apparatus must be relatively large. Furthermore, when the number of lit LEDs increases, there is a problem that it is difficult to visually recognize which LED is lit for what display. On the other hand, in the method of decoding the received message information and displaying it on the display screen, the user can immediately know the content of the message, but when it is received, it is displayed on the screen regardless of the convenience of the user For this reason, for example, when a user is watching a program, there is a possibility that a message is suddenly displayed at the center of the screen and viewing of the program is disturbed.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that when a message from a broadcasting station or the like is received, the presence / absence, attribute, It is an object of the present invention to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of displaying the contents of a message and performing the display so as not to disturb the user's program viewing.

  Furthermore, recently, broadcast receiving apparatuses are not limited to receiving and displaying broadcasts transmitted from television broadcasting stations, but receiving apparatuses (such as personal computer terminals) for receiving programs on the Internet through the Internet, Incoming emails on mobile phone display screens, and receiving devices used in the home (for example, television display during visitor by door phone) are becoming widespread and expanding. In the same way as above, when a message is received, information about the message is displayed for the first time when a user operation is performed without ignoring the convenience of the user, and the display of the message is viewed by the user. There is a need to do so that it does not disturb. Accordingly, the problems to be solved by the present invention include providing an apparatus that enables the display as described above in the entire apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention described in each claim of the present invention is a broadcast receiving apparatus which is an apparatus for receiving content distributed through the Internet and an apparatus for receiving mail transmitted to a mobile phone. A broadcast receiving apparatus for solving the above-described problems is provided. That is, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention extracts an Internet receiver for receiving content distributed over the Internet, a user operation unit for receiving user operations, and message information for viewers from the received content. Information that indicates the presence or absence of message information in the information displayed by the OSD display unit when the received user operation information is displayed and there is extracted message information. There is provided a broadcast receiving device having an OSD display unit that also displays message related information including message presence / absence information. According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile mail receiving unit that receives a mail transmitted to a mobile phone, a user operation unit that receives a user operation, and an extraction that extracts message information for viewers from the received mail. When the user operation information is received, the received user operation information is displayed, and if there is extracted message information, the information displayed by the OSD display unit indicates the presence or absence of the message information. Provided is a broadcast receiving apparatus having an OSD display unit that also displays message related information including message presence / absence information. The invention described in claim 3 has an attribute identification information acquisition unit that acquires message attribute identification information from message information, and the OSD display unit displays the acquired attribute identification information in the message related information. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an attribute identification display unit. The invention according to claim 4 further includes a message number information acquiring unit that acquires information indicating the number of messages, and the OSD display unit displays the acquired message number information in the message related information. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a number information display unit. The invention according to claim 5 has an importance level determination unit that determines whether the acquired attribute identification information is predetermined identification information, and the OSD display unit is a determination result that the predetermined identification information is determined. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 3 or claim 4 subordinate to claim 3, further comprising continuous display means for continuously displaying the relevant message-related information including the time of user operation. In the invention according to claim 6, the user operation information displayed by the OSD display section includes at least a channel number, and the OSD display section displays the message related information in the vicinity of the channel number. A broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 having display means. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet reception step of receiving content distributed through the Internet, and whether or not message information for viewers is included in the content received in the Internet reception step. For viewers that extract message information for viewers when it is determined that the message information is included in the message information presence / absence determination step for viewers and the message information presence / absence determination step for viewers to be determined Displays the received user operation information when it is determined in the message extraction step, the user operation reception presence / absence determination step that determines whether or not a user operation has been received, and the user operation reception presence / absence determination step. And a message extraction process for the viewer. A broadcast reception method including a display step of displaying message related information including message presence / absence information which is information indicating presence / absence of message information in the displayed information. provide. The invention described in claim 8 is a mobile mail receiving step for receiving mail transmitted to a mobile phone, and whether message information for viewers is included in the content received in the mobile mail receiving step. If it is determined that the message information is included in the viewer message information presence / absence determining step and the viewer message information presence / absence determining step, the message information for the viewer is extracted. A message extraction step for viewers, a user operation reception presence / absence determination step for determining whether or not a user operation has been received, and a user operation received when it is determined that the user operation has been received in the user operation reception presence / absence determination step Information is displayed and the message extracted in the message extraction step for viewers is displayed. If there is sage information provides a broadcast receiving method and a display step of also displaying a message related information including a message whether information indicating the presence or absence of the message information to the information to be displayed. The invention according to claim 9 further includes an attribute identification information acquisition step of acquiring message attribute identification information from the message information, and the message related information displayed in the display step includes the attribute identification information acquisition step. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 7 or 8, which also includes the attribute identification information acquired in (8).

According to the present invention, when a message from a broadcasting station or the like is received, the presence / absence of the message, the attribute and the content of the message are displayed for the first time when any user operation is performed without ignoring the convenience of the user, In addition, a broadcast receiving device that can perform the display so as not to disturb the user's viewing of the program (it is not limited to receiving and displaying a broadcast transmitted by a television broadcast station, but turning on a program through the Internet). Receiving devices (such as personal computer terminals) for receiving on demand systems, incoming mail displays on mobile phone display screens, and even receiving devices used in the home (for example, television display during visitor by door phone) Including). In particular, according to the invention described in each claim of the present invention, the broadcast receiving device that exhibits the above-described effect and is transmitted to the broadcast receiving device and the mobile phone, which are devices that receive content distributed through the Internet. It is possible to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus that is an apparatus for receiving e-mail.

The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 1. FIG. Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the display screen of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 1. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 2. FIG. Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 2. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the display screen of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 2. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 2. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the display screen of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 4. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the display screen of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 4. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the broadcast receiver of Example 4. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the broadcast receiving apparatus of Example 5.

0100 Broadcast receiving device 0101 Broadcast receiving unit 0102 User operation unit 0103 Extraction unit 0104 OSD display unit

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. Regarding the mutual relationship between the embodiment and the claims of the claims, the embodiment 1 mainly relates to claims 1 and 6 and the embodiment 2 mainly relates to claims 2 and 7. Example 3 mainly relates to claim 3 and the like, Example 4 mainly relates to claim 4 and the like, and Example 5 mainly relates to claim 5 and the like. In addition, this invention is not limited to these Examples at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

<Overview>
When the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment extracts message information for viewers from the received broadcast signal and receives the user operation, the received user operation information is displayed and the extracted message information is present. Is characterized by having means for displaying message related information including message presence / absence information which is information indicating the presence / absence of message information in the displayed information. It is something that you can know.

<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. Each unit, which is a component of the present invention, is configured by either hardware, software, or both hardware and software. For example, as an example for realizing these, when a computer is used, hardware composed of a CPU, a memory, a bus, an interface, peripheral devices, and the like, and software executable on these hardware are listed. Can do. Specifically, the functions of the respective units are realized by sequentially executing the programs developed on the memory, by processing, storing, and outputting data on the memory and data input through the interface.
In the figure, a “broadcast receiving device” 0100 of this embodiment includes a “broadcast receiving unit” 0101, a “user operation unit” 0102, an “extraction unit” 0103, and an “OSD (On Screen Display) display unit” 0104. It consists of.

The “broadcast receiving device” is typically a device for receiving a broadcast wave, and corresponds to a terrestrial digital broadcast receiving device, a satellite digital broadcast receiving device, or the like. However, “broadcasting” here is not limited to receiving broadcast waves. For example, a device that receives content distributed over the Internet (for example, a personal computer terminal), a mobile phone that can display incoming mail on a display screen, and a receiver that is used at home (for example, a television set during a visitor using a door phone) Devices for performing display) and the like are widely included. In short, the “broadcast receiving device” referred to in the present invention may be anything as long as it is configured to receive certain information transmitted from another device and display the information content. . The information to be received is typically digital information, but may be analog information. Furthermore, the data format of the information includes a wide range of image information, character information, and the like.
The “broadcast receiving unit” is configured to receive a broadcast signal. As described above, since the “broadcast” in the present embodiment includes various types, the “broadcast signal” widely includes signals related to all of these broadcasts. Further, since the message information for the viewer is extracted from the broadcast signal by the extraction unit as will be described later, the broadcast signal includes the message information for the viewer.
The “user operation unit” is configured to accept a user operation. This user operation is performed, for example, by key operation of a remote controller. A specific configuration relating to user operation reception will be described in a hardware configuration described later.
The “extracting unit” is configured to extract message information for viewers from the received broadcast signal. “Message information” refers to information directed to viewers who use the broadcast receiving apparatus, such as notifications regarding free broadcast dates of pay broadcasts or notifications regarding failed broadcast recording reservations. is there. Note that the “broadcast receiving device” here is not limited to a television or the like as described above, but receives certain information transmitted from other devices and displays the information content. Therefore, the “viewer” here is not limited to the person who literally “views”, and includes a wide range of users of broadcast receiving apparatuses.
The “OSD display unit” displays the received user operation information when a user operation is received, and if there is extracted message information, the information displayed by the OSD display unit indicates whether there is message information. Message related information including message presence / absence information that is information to be displayed is also displayed. “User operation information” is information received by the OSD display unit as information related to an operation (user operation) performed by the user (viewer) on the broadcast receiving apparatus. The user operation corresponds to, for example, channel switching. In addition to the message presence / absence information, the message related information may include, for example, message attributes (whether it is an important message) and contents (message information itself). That is, the message attributes and contents may be displayed together with message presence / absence information as message related information.

  As described above, the display of the message related information including the message presence / absence information is performed for the first time when the user operation is accepted. Therefore, the purpose is to prevent such a situation. In addition, since the user operation information is displayed when the user operation is accepted, as a result of the above configuration, the message related information is always displayed when the user operation information is displayed, and only the message related information is displayed alone. However, if message-related information is displayed on occasions where the user's own interest in the screen is directed to other than the program content as a result of user operation, this may hinder user viewing and the like. This is because it is thought that there is not.

Next, the hardware configuration of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. Here, a case where the broadcast receiving apparatus is a television will be described. As shown in this figure, the “broadcast receiving unit” of the broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment includes “interface” 0201, “storage device” 0202, “main memory” 0203, “CPU” 0204, and “tuner”. 0205. The “user operation unit” includes a “storage device”, “main memory”, “CPU”, “I / O” 0206, and “remote control” 0207. The “extraction unit” includes a “storage device”, a “main memory”, and a “CPU”. The “OSD display unit” includes a “storage device”, a “main memory”, a “CPU”, an “I / O”, and a “display” 0208. These are connected to each other through a data communication path such as “system bus” 0209, and perform transmission / reception and processing of information.
The storage device stores various programs executed by the CPU. The main memory provides a work area which is a work area when the program is executed by the CPU. A plurality of memory addresses are assigned to the main memory and the storage device, respectively, and a program executed by the CPU performs processing by exchanging data with each other by specifying and accessing the memory address. It is possible.

First, a configuration for receiving a broadcast signal will be described. In this case, a broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station or the like (for example, a signal including a notification message regarding a free broadcast date of a pay broadcast) is interfaced by a broadcast receiving unit (specifically, a CPU constituting the same unit) of the broadcast receiving device. Via the tuner. This reception is processed by expanding the received program stored in the storage device in the work area of the main memory and executing the program by the CPU. The received broadcast signal is temporarily stored in the data area of the main memory (may be further stored in a storage device).
Next, a configuration for accepting a user operation will be described. A user operation unit (specifically, a CPU constituting the same unit) receives a remote control operation (for example, channel switching) performed by the user. In this reception, the user operation reception program stored in the storage device is expanded in the main memory, and the CPU executes the program to acquire operation information including the remote control operation performed by the user via the I / O. To be processed. The received user operation information is also temporarily stored in the main memory (may be further stored in the storage device).
Next, a configuration for extracting a viewer-oriented message from the received broadcast signal will be described. In this case, first, the extraction program stored in the storage device is expanded in the main memory, and the message for the viewer is extracted from the broadcast signal stored in the main memory by the above-described processing. In this extraction, for example, when a message sender such as a broadcasting station transmits the message, the message is transmitted in association with identification information for identifying that the message is for a viewer, and the extraction unit performs the identification. Although it is configured to identify and extract that the information is a message for viewers based on the information, in any case, what kind of configuration is used to extract the message is an appropriate design matter for those skilled in the art It is.
Furthermore, when there is extracted message information, the OSD display unit (the CPU constituting the OSD) displays message presence / absence information together with user operation information. For this purpose, for example, the configuration is stored in a storage device. The display program is expanded in the main memory, and the CPU executes the program to determine whether the message for the viewer extracted in the main memory is stored. If the message is stored, the message for the viewer is stored. Message-related information including message presence / absence information indicating that there is a message is generated, and the message-related information is displayed on the display via the I / O. At that time, user operation information stored in the main memory is also displayed on the display.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen in a state where message presence / absence information is displayed on the display by such processing. Also in this example, the broadcast receiving apparatus is a television and the user operation is channel switching. This figure is an example in the case where message related information is displayed near the channel number displayed on the OSD screen of the television.
Among these, FIG. 3A shows the display state before the change (before the user's channel switching), and the message information for the viewer has been extracted from the already received broadcast signal, but the user operation has not been performed yet. Therefore, the message presence / absence information is not displayed on the screen. For example, in order for a user to watch a BS television with a channel number “BS (A) 151 channel” or to confirm “BS (A) 151 channel” which is the channel number of a program currently being viewed. When the channel key is pressed by operating the remote controller, various information shown in FIG. 3 is displayed in the upper right corner of the OSD screen, for example. At this stage, it is assumed that the message information has not yet arrived, and therefore the message information has not been extracted. In this case, the message presence / absence information is not displayed on the OSD screen. Thereafter, message information for the viewer is included in the broadcast signal received while the display of the various information is continued, and this is extracted, but the remote controller for displaying the channel number by the user thereafter Since no operation is performed, only the above-mentioned various information is continuously displayed on the screen, and the message presence / absence information is not displayed on the OSD screen.
On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows a display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). That is, after the message information for the viewer included in the broadcast signal is extracted, the user switches the channel number from “BS (A) 151 channel” to “BS (B) 161 channel”. Therefore, using this as a trigger, the text “Notification” or the like is displayed as the message presence / absence information that has already been extracted. When the user confirms the details of the “notification”, for example, a notification button (not shown) provided on a remote control device (not shown) is pressed and displayed on the screen, or a menu is displayed on the screen with the remote control (not shown). To display by performing a desired operation, or for example, by operating a cursor button (not shown) of a remote controller to designate a display position of “notification” and performing a desired operation. .
Note that, in the above, the previous operation (in the example of the figure, “BS (A) of the channel”) before the user operation for switching the channel number from “BS (A) 151 channel” to “BS (B) 161 channel”. The display at the time of switching to “151 channel” or displaying for confirmation is continued until the next user operation (in this example, the channel is switched to “BS (B) 161 channel” which is the current operation). It was explained with an example of being displayed. In this case, the display including the message presence / absence information is displayed in a form in which the screen is switched based on the next user operation. On the other hand, if the channel number etc. is displayed as it is, the channel number will not be displayed because it will be in the way of the screen, or if the screen is recorded with a recording device, it will remain displayed even if it is played back. It can be displayed for 2 seconds (2 to 3 seconds) and automatically erased, or the display can be erased by pressing the channel call button on the remote control after setting the display not to disappear. In this case, The display including the message presence / absence information shown in FIG. 3B is displayed again based on the user operation when the next user operation is performed.
As shown in the figure, the message presence / absence information is usually displayed on the screen as various information such as audio status and video status is often displayed as various information. In order to make it easier for the user to notice this, it is desirable to display the image with a characteristic color or shape so that it can be easily distinguished from these other displays. The example of FIG. 3 is an example devised so as to be easily distinguished by enclosing the letters “notification” in a circle. In addition, for example, the background color or the character color may be changed only in the message presence / absence information. Further, these colors may be varied depending on the importance of the message.
In the above description, the message related information is displayed in the vicinity of the channel number. However, the display position of the message related information is not limited to this. For example, the message related information is displayed at a position away from the channel number. It may be displayed near the broadcast station name.

In addition to channel switching, user operations that trigger the display of message presence / absence information include switching external input sources, changing audio status (for example, changing the volume value, switching stereo / mono), and changing the video status. It may be a change (for example, change of brightness value, change of color balance, etc.). Further, instead of “switching” the channel, an operation for simply displaying the current channel on the screen may be performed.
Furthermore, when displaying the message presence / absence information, the number of messages may be displayed, and further, the attributes of the message (for example, important notices or notices about free broadcast days of pay broadcasts) may be displayed.
In any case, how to display message related information including message presence / absence information is an appropriate design matter for those skilled in the art.

Since it comprised as mentioned above, when the broadcast signal containing message information is received, it becomes possible to display the said message, without ignoring a user's convenience.
In the above description, the broadcast receiving apparatus is mainly a television. However, as described above, the broadcast receiving apparatus is not limited to merely receiving and displaying a broadcast transmitted from a television broadcast station, but via the Internet. Receiving devices for receiving programs on-demand (such as personal computer terminals), incoming mail display on mobile phone display screens, and even receiving devices used at home (for example, television display during visitor by door phone) Or the like. The configuration for receiving broadcasts, extracting messages, accepting user operations, and displaying user operation information and message related information in these various apparatuses is basically the same as that described above with television in mind. In this case, the content of the message information varies depending on the content of these devices. For example, if it is related to the incoming mail display on the display screen of the mobile phone, the presence / absence of incoming mail, the number of incoming calls, and the like are applicable. The same applies to user operations. For example, in the case of an incoming mail display on a display screen of a mobile phone, a key operation provided on the mobile phone itself serving as a broadcast receiving device corresponds.

  Furthermore, although different from the configuration of the above-described device, a configuration that displays message related information including message presence / absence information without using a user operation as a trigger is also included in the broadcast receiving device of this embodiment. In this case, only the message related information may be displayed alone without displaying the user operation information. This means that even if message-related information is displayed without triggering a user operation, the user's viewing is not hindered, but rather the user is immediately notified of the presence or absence of a message without waiting for such operation. It is effective when it is helpful. For example, in the example of the television display at the time of a visitor using the doorphone described above, the content of the message information is that there is a visitor, and this is immediately performed when there is a visitor without waiting for the operation of the doorphone by the user (housekeeper). Since it is more convenient to display message-related information to inform the effect, in such a case, if there is reception of a broadcast signal (for example, reception of a signal transmitted from a chime pressed by a visitor), that effect is immediately indicated. It may be configured to display on the television display screen of the door phone. Alternatively, in this case, the fact that there is a visitor is displayed immediately, but the video of the visitor may be displayed after a user operation.

<Process flow>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process flow in the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment. The flow of processing in FIG.
First, in step S0401 for determining whether or not to start broadcast reception, if it is determined to start, the broadcast receiving apparatus starts receiving broadcast signals and includes the viewer-oriented broadcast signals in the received broadcast signals. Proceeding to step S0402 for determining whether or not message information is included, and if it is determined that message information for viewers is included in this step, the broadcast receiving apparatus in step S0403 for extracting message information for viewers. Then, message information for viewers is extracted from the received broadcast signal. The extracted message information is temporarily stored in the main memory or the like.
Next, in the determination step S0404 of whether or not a user operation has been received, when it is determined that a user operation has been received, the broadcast receiving apparatus displays the received user operation information and message related information on a display or the like.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S0402 that the message information is not included, if it is determined in step S0406 whether or not a user operation has been received, the broadcast receiving apparatus has received it. User operation information is displayed on a display or the like. In this case, the message related information is not displayed.

<Effect>
When a message from a broadcasting station or the like is received by the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment, the message is displayed for the first time when any user operation is performed without ignoring the convenience of the user, and It is possible to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of performing display so as not to disturb the user's program viewing.

<Overview>
The broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as the apparatus of the first embodiment, but further includes means for acquiring message attribute identification information from the message information and the acquired attribute identification information included in the message related information. Display means, so that not only the presence or absence of a message but also the attributes of the message can be understood by the user.

<Configuration>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The “broadcast receiving device” 0500 of the present embodiment is basically the same as the broadcast receiving device of the second embodiment. However, the apparatus further includes an “attribute identification information acquisition unit” 0505 and an “OSD display unit” 0504 includes an “attribute identification information display unit” 0506.
The “attribute identification information acquisition unit” is configured to acquire attribute identification information of a message from message information. The “attribute identification information display means” is configured to display the acquired attribute identification information in the message related information.
“Message attribute identification information” refers to information for identifying the attribute of the message information, and “attribute” herein refers to information that can identify the characteristics and properties of the message information from other information. Including widely. For example, if message information is differentiated according to its contents, and it is related to television broadcasting, there is a distinction such as information on free broadcast dates of pay broadcasts, information on broadcast program contents, information on recording of broadcast programs, etc. Applicable. Further, the importance level of the message information and whether the message information has been read or not read are also included in the “attribute” here.

In this way, the attribute identification information of the message information is acquired and displayed, so that the user can know the content to some extent without looking at the message information itself, so that the message information can be immediately displayed. The purpose is to be able to determine whether it is necessary to see. That is, the presence or absence of message information alone cannot determine whether it is necessary to view the message information immediately. On the other hand, if the content of the message information itself is always displayed, the display space increases and the program can be viewed. In this way, it is necessary to read even urgent message information. By displaying the message-related information including attribute identification information in this way, efficient message information for the user can be obtained. It can contribute to the convenience of grasping.
A specific configuration related to acquisition and display of attribute identification information will be described in the hardware configuration described below.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The hardware configuration of the broadcast receiving apparatus of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an “attribute identification information acquisition unit”, and the unit includes a “storage device” 0602, a “main memory” 0603, and a “CPU” 0604. The “OSD display section” includes “attribute identification information display means”, but the “OSD display section” including the means also includes “storage device”, “main memory”, and the like as in the first embodiment. , “CPU”, “I / O” 0606, and “Display” 0608.
Here, a specific configuration related to acquisition and display of attribute identification information will be described. Since the remaining configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.
First, a configuration related to acquisition of attribute identification information will be described. In this case, the attribute identification information acquisition unit (specifically, the CPU that constitutes the same unit) reads out the attribute identification information acquisition program stored in the storage device and expands it in the work area of the main memory. Store the message in the data area of the main memory. Then, the CPU executes the program and acquires attribute identification information from the message information. This acquisition is performed, for example, when a message sender such as a broadcasting station transmits the message (for example, information related to a free broadcast date of a pay broadcast). And the attribute identification information acquisition unit (which constitutes the CPU) acquires the associated attribute identification information from the received message information. Alternatively, for example, the attribute identification information acquisition unit has a table in which the keyword included in the message information is associated with the attribute in advance, and the attribute is determined by referring to the table based on the keyword included in the message information. You may comprise so that identification information may be produced | generated and acquired. An example of the correspondence between the keyword and attribute included in the message information in the table is as follows. When the keyword “free broadcast date” is included in the message information, the message information is “the relevant information is related to the free broadcast date of the pay broadcast. Such as having an attribute of “information”.
The acquired attribute identification information is temporarily stored in the main memory (may be further stored in a storage device).

  Next, a configuration related to the display of attribute identification information will be described. In this case, the CPU executes the display program expanded in the main memory to determine whether or not the message for the viewer extracted in the main memory is stored. If the message is stored, the message including the message presence / absence information is stored. The configuration for generating the related information and displaying the information together with the user operation information on the display via the I / O is the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, the attribute identification information is also included in the displayed message related information. For this reason, when the CPU executes the display program, after processing to include the attribute identification information stored in the main memory in the message related information, the message related information including the attribute identification information is displayed on the display. It becomes.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen in a state where message related information including attribute identification information is displayed on the display by such processing. Also in this example, the broadcast receiving apparatus is a television and the user operation is channel switching.
FIG. 7A shows an example of the display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). In this example, the attribute identification information is information related to the free broadcast date of the pay broadcast, and for this reason, information including the characters “Notification (Free Broadcast Date)” is displayed as message related information including the attribute identification information. Yes. Since the display state before the change (before the user's channel switching) is the same as that shown in FIG.
FIG. 7B shows another example of the display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). Also in this example, the attribute identification information is information related to the free broadcast date of the pay broadcast. However, unlike FIG. 7A, the background color of “notification” is changed according to the attribute. Thus, if the background color is determined for each attribute in advance, the user can know the attribute of the message related information by looking at the background color. Although the color is not shown in the figure, the background color of the “notification” portion is yellow, and the user can use the background color to identify the attribute identification information included in the message related information related to the free broadcast date of the pay broadcast. You can know that it is information.
FIG. 7C shows still another example of the display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). This example is also an example similar to FIG. 7B, and the same effect can be obtained by changing the character color instead of changing the background color.

Further, although not shown in the figure, it may be possible to make a distinction by, for example, the shape or color of an icon instead of the background color or character color above.
In the above, the example in which the attribute identification information is information related to the free broadcast date of pay broadcasting has been described, but in addition to this, for example, the attribute identification information relates to the importance of the message information of the information and whether it is unread / read It may be a thing. Even in these cases, the attribute identification information portion may be displayed by characters as in the above example, and may be distinguished by the background color, character color, icon, etc. of the message related information.

<Process flow>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing flow of this embodiment is basically the same as the processing flow of the first embodiment. However, in attribute identification information acquisition step S0804, the broadcast receiving apparatus acquires message attribute identification information from the message information extracted in viewer message information extraction step S0803. The message related information displayed in the step S0806 for displaying user operation information and message related information includes the attribute identification information acquired in the step S0804.
Unlike the example shown in the figure, the processing in the attribute identification information acquisition step is performed after the determination step when it is determined that there is message information in the determination step of whether or not there is extracted message information. May be. However, in this case, the display timing of the message related information including the attribute identification information may be delayed compared to the case of the example of this figure. From the viewpoint of prompt display of the information, It is desirable that the processing is performed in such an order.
The rest of the process flow is the same as the process flow of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

<Effect>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment allows the user to know the contents to some extent without looking at the message information itself, thereby enabling the user to determine whether or not the message information needs to be viewed immediately. It becomes possible.

<Overview>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first or second embodiment, but further includes means for acquiring information indicating the number of messages from the message information and the acquired message number information. And a means for displaying it in the related information so that the user can know not only the presence or absence of a message but also the number of messages.

<Configuration>
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The “broadcast receiving apparatus” 0900 of this embodiment is basically the same as the broadcast receiving apparatus of the first or second embodiment. However, the apparatus further includes a “message number information acquisition unit” 0905 and an “OSD display unit” 0904 includes a “message number information display unit” 0906.
The “message number information acquisition unit” is configured to acquire information indicating the number of messages from the message information. Further, the “message number information display means” is configured to display the acquired message number information including the message related information.
The broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment may further include means for acquiring message attribute identification information from message information and means for displaying the acquired attribute identification information in the message related information. Good.
Since the rest of the configuration is the same as that of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first or second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. Also, the hardware configuration of the apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment described above with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen in a state where message related information including message number information is displayed on the display by such processing. Also in this example, the broadcast receiving apparatus is a television and the user operation is channel switching. This figure shows an example of the display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). In this example, the number of messages indicated by the message number information is “3”. For this reason, information including the characters “notified” 3 is displayed as message related information including the message number information. Yes. Since the display state before the change (before the user's channel switching) is the same as that shown in FIG.

Further, although not shown in the figure, it may be possible to make a distinction by, for example, the shape or color of an icon instead of the background color or character color above.
Although not shown in the figure, the number of messages may be distinguished by the background color, character color, icon, etc. of the message related information.

<Process flow>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing flow of this embodiment is basically the same as the processing flow of the first or second embodiment. However, in the message number information acquisition step S1104, the broadcast receiving apparatus acquires message number information from the message information extracted in the message information extraction step S1103 for viewers. The message related information displayed in step S1106 of displaying user operation information and message related information includes the message number information acquired in step S1104.
Since the remaining processing flow is the same as the processing flow of the first or second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

<Effect>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment enables the user to know not only the presence / absence of a message but also the number of messages.

<Overview>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment, but further includes means for determining whether the acquired attribute identification information is predetermined identification information, and the determination result is predetermined identification information. If it is determined that there is a message, it has means for continuously displaying the relevant message related information including the time of user operation. It is intended to be understood by the user.

<Configuration>
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The “broadcast receiving apparatus” 1200 of this embodiment is basically the same as the broadcast receiving apparatus of the second embodiment. However, the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment further includes an “importance degree determination unit” 1207, and the “OSD display unit” 1204 further includes a “continuous display unit” 1208.
The “importance level determination unit” is configured to determine whether the acquired attribute identification information is predetermined identification information. “Predetermined identification information” typically refers to information indicating that the message information is important, and includes information that is determined to need to be continuously displayed. The “continuous display means” continuously displays the relevant message-related information including the time of user operation when the determination result in the importance determination unit is a determination result that is predetermined identification information. It is configured as follows. The “continuous display means” is configured to “continue to display the relevant message related information continuously including the time of the user operation”. Typically, the user operation information is stored for a certain period of time after the user operation (for example, In many cases, it is configured to disappear after a few seconds). However, since predetermined information such as important message information is particularly necessary to attract the user's attention, a new user operation is subsequently performed. It is configured to display continuously including the case where it is made. In this case, for example, the display is continued until the message information itself is displayed in order to read the content of the message. However, since such a display may interfere with the user's viewing of the program, in such a case, the display of the message-related information disappears after a certain period of time (for example, several hours). May be.
Since the rest of the configuration is the same as the configuration of the apparatus of the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen in a state where message related information including message information is displayed on the display by such processing. Also in this example, the broadcast receiving apparatus is a television and the user operation is channel switching. This figure shows an example of the display state after the change (after the user's channel switching). In this example, the message information is information indicating that it is an “important message”. For this reason, information that includes the letters “Notified <important>” as message-related information that includes the message being important. Is displayed. Since the display state before the change (before the user's channel switching) is the same as that shown in FIG.
Further, although not shown in the figure, it may be possible to make a distinction by, for example, the shape or color of an icon instead of the background color or character color above.
Although not shown, the message may be distinguished by the background color, character color, icon, etc. of the message related information.
Further, in the above example, the case where the message is important or not has been described, but in addition to this, for example, “importance 1”, “importance 2” and the like are performed according to the importance. In this case, the importance may be distinguished by a background color, a character color, an icon, or the like.

<Process flow>
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow in the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment. The processing flow of the present embodiment is basically the same as the processing flow of the second embodiment. However, in step S1405 for determining whether or not the message is an important message, the broadcast receiving apparatus determines whether or not the attribute identification information acquired in the attribute identification information acquisition step S1404 is predetermined identification information, which is an important message in this example. If it is determined that the message is an important message, the process proceeds to step S1406 for determining whether or not a user operation has been accepted. If it is determined that the user operation has been accepted, the broadcast receiving apparatus accepts and accepts a user operation. The user operation information and message related information (including importance information) are displayed on a display or the like (step S1407). In this case, the message related information is continuously displayed.
As described above, importance information may be displayed in stages in addition to the choice of whether importance is important. In step S1405, in addition to determining whether or not the message is an important message, if the message is an important message, the importance is also determined. Also, the importance level information displayed in step S1407 includes information indicating the importance level in stages.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1405 that the message is not an important message, if it is determined in step S1408 whether or not a user operation has been received, the broadcast receiving apparatus receives the received user operation. Information and message related information (not including importance information) are displayed on a display or the like (step S1409).
Further, if it is determined in step S1402 whether or not a message for viewers is included, if it is determined in step S1410 whether or not a user operation has been received, it is determined that it has been received. The broadcast receiving apparatus displays the received user operation information on a display or the like (step S1409). In this case, the message related information is not displayed.
Since the remaining process flow is the same as the process flow of the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

<Effect>
The broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment enables the user to know not only the presence / absence of a message but also the importance of the message.

<Overview>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as any one of the broadcast receiving apparatuses according to the first to fourth embodiments, but the user operation information displayed by the OSD display unit further includes at least a channel number. The OSD display unit has means for displaying the message-related information in the vicinity of the channel number, so that the user can easily notice the message-related information and can see it together with the channel number. It is.

<Configuration>
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. The “broadcast receiving apparatus” 1500 of the present embodiment is basically in common with the broadcast receiving apparatus of any one of the first to fourth embodiments. However, at least the channel number is included in the user operation information displayed by the “OSD display unit” 1504 of the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment, and the “OSD display unit” further includes a “neighbor display unit” 1505.
The “neighbor display means” is configured to display message related information in the vicinity of the channel number. In this embodiment, the user operation received by the user operation unit always includes a channel operation. As a result, the user operation information displayed by the OSD display unit includes at least channel information. At that time, since the user is performing the operation to switch the channel or confirm the current channel, the user's interest is naturally directed to the channel number displayed on the OSD screen. Become. In view of this, the apparatus according to the present embodiment displays the message related information in the vicinity of the channel number so that the user can easily notice the presence of the message related information and can be seen integrally with the channel number. The purpose is to do.
Therefore, the “neighbor” of the channel number does not have a strict range, it is easy to notice the presence of message related information when viewing the display of the channel number, and the channel number and message related information can be seen together. The position may be as close as possible. A specific example of such display is as shown in FIG.
As an example of the hardware configuration for such display, for example, when the CPU configuring the OSD display unit displays the message presence / absence information on the OSD screen together with the channel number based on the user operation information, it is stored in the storage device. Based on the displayed proximity display program, the screen position information for determining the display position on each screen is set so that the display positions are close to each other, and the user operation information and the message related information are displayed. Is done.
The broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment may further include means for acquiring message attribute identification information from message information and means for displaying the acquired attribute identification information in the message related information. Good. Further, the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment further includes means for acquiring information indicating the number of messages from the message information, and means for displaying the acquired message number information in the message related information. Good. Further, the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes a means for determining whether the acquired attribute identification information is predetermined identification information, and a corresponding message if the determination result is the predetermined identification information. And a means for continuously displaying the related information including the time of user operation.
The rest of the configuration is the same as that of any one of the first to fourth embodiments, and a description thereof will be omitted.

<Process flow>
The processing flow in the broadcast receiving apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as the flow of any one of 1 to 4. However, at least the channel number is included in the user operation information displayed in the step of displaying the user operation information and the message related information on the OSD screen, and the message related information is displayed in the vicinity of the channel number in the step.
The rest of the process flow is the same as the process flow of any one of the first to fourth embodiments, and a description thereof will be omitted.

<Effect>
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment makes it easy for the user to notice message related information and to view the information together with the channel number.

Claims (9)

An Internet receiver for receiving content distributed over the Internet;
A user operation unit that accepts user operations;
An extractor that extracts message information for viewers from the received content ;
When the user operation is received, the received user operation information is displayed, and when there is extracted message information, message presence / absence information which is information indicating the presence / absence of message information in the information displayed by the OSD display unit An OSD display unit that also displays message related information including
A broadcast receiving apparatus. A mobile mail receiver that receives mail sent to the mobile phone;
A user operation unit that accepts user operations;
An extractor that extracts message information for viewers from the received mail ;
When the user operation is received, the received user operation information is displayed, and when there is extracted message information, message presence / absence information which is information indicating the presence / absence of message information in the information displayed by the OSD display unit An OSD display unit that also displays message related information including
A broadcast receiving apparatus. Having an attribute identification information acquisition unit for acquiring attribute identification information of a message from message information;
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the OSD display unit includes attribute identification display means for displaying the acquired attribute identification information included in the message related information. A message number information acquisition unit for acquiring information indicating the number of messages;
The broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the OSD display unit includes message number information display means for displaying the acquired message number information in the message related information. Having an importance level determination unit for determining whether the acquired attribute identification information is predetermined identification information;
The OSD display unit has continuous display means for continuously displaying the relevant message-related information including the time of user operation when it is determined that the information is predetermined identification information. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 4, which is dependent on 3.   6. The user operation information displayed by the OSD display unit includes at least a channel number, and the OSD display unit has proximity display means for displaying the message related information in the vicinity of the channel number. The broadcast receiving apparatus as described in one. An internet receiving step for receiving content distributed over the internet;
A message information presence / absence judgment step for judging whether or not message information for viewers is included in the content received in the Internet reception step ;
A message extraction step for a viewer that extracts message information for the viewer when it is determined that message information is included in the message information presence / absence determination step for the viewer;
A user operation reception presence / absence determination step for determining whether or not a user operation has been received;
When it is determined that the user operation has been received in the user operation reception presence / absence determination step, the received user operation information is displayed, and when there is message information extracted in the message extraction step for the viewer, A display step for displaying message related information including message presence / absence information which is information indicating presence / absence of message information in the displayed information;
A broadcast receiving method comprising: A mobile mail receiving step for receiving mail sent to the mobile phone;
A message information presence / absence determining step for determining whether or not message information for viewers is included in the content received in the mobile mail receiving step ;
A message extraction step for a viewer that extracts message information for the viewer when it is determined that message information is included in the message information presence / absence determination step for the viewer;
A user operation reception presence / absence determination step for determining whether or not a user operation has been received;
When it is determined that the user operation has been received in the user operation reception presence / absence determination step, the received user operation information is displayed, and when there is message information extracted in the message extraction step for the viewer, A display step for displaying message related information including message presence / absence information which is information indicating presence / absence of message information in the displayed information;
A broadcast receiving method comprising: An attribute identification information acquisition step of acquiring message attribute identification information from the message information;
The broadcast receiving method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the message-related information displayed in the display step includes the attribute identification information acquired in the attribute identification information acquisition step.

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