JPH06162252A - Program reservation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To easily set the program reservation for the video recorder. [Structure] A reservation code character string, which is an encoding of reservation information, printed on a program column of a newspaper or the like is converted into reservation information by character recognition. Further, the program content is added to the reservation information by character recognition of the program information character string representing the program content. [Effect] Reservation can be easily set only by reading the reservation code character string corresponding to each program, and the reserved contents can be seen at a glance by displaying the program information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program reservation device for a video recorder which reserves a program for a broadcast program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A program reservation device for a conventional video recorder is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-27129.
The barcode that represents the date, the start time, and the end time is optically read and converted into reservation information.

[0003]

However, it is difficult to print the bar code in the program column because the bar code representing the reservation information is bulky in the above-mentioned prior art, and what kind of program is the reserved program. Has a problem that it is not possible to find it by just looking at the reservation information.

Therefore, the present invention solves such a problem, and its purpose is to simply recognize a reserved code character string of several characters printed for each program in a program section. An object of the present invention is to provide a program reservation device capable of reserving a program and at a glance to know the reserved program by character-recognizing a character string representing the program content such as a program name and adding it to the reservation information.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A program reservation device of the present invention is an optical system for optically reading at least an image of a reservation code character string obtained by encoding reservation information of a program printed in a program section of a newspaper or magazine. It is characterized by comprising a reading means, a character recognizing means for recognizing the character string image and converting it into a character code string, and a reservation information converting means for converting the character code string into reservation information.

[0006] Further, at least an optical reading means for optically reading an image of a program information character string representing a program title, a program content of a performer or the like printed in a program column of a newspaper or a magazine, and the character string image Characteristic recognition means for character recognition and conversion into a character code string and program content addition means for adding the character code string to the reservation information are provided.

[0007]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below based on examples.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a program reservation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a program section in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an external view of the program reservation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a reservation information conversion unit in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a program information addition unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

The program reservation device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the reservation information conversion unit in the embodiment of the present invention. The conversion from the reservation code character string to the reservation information is performed by optically reading the image of the reservation code character string 501 printed on the program section of a newspaper or the like by the image reading unit 502 and recognizing the read image by the character recognition unit 503. The conversion is performed by converting the character code string into reservation information by the reservation information conversion unit 504.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the program information adding section in the embodiment of the present invention. The program information is added to the reservation information by adding the program information character string 601 printed in the program section of a newspaper or the like.
Image is optically read by the image reading unit 602, the read image is converted into a character code string by character recognition by the character recognition unit 603, and the character code string is added to the reservation information by the program information addition unit 604. By doing.

In the program reservation device in the following embodiments,
Although two functions of the reservation information conversion and the program information addition are realized, it goes without saying that only one of them may be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a program section in the embodiment of the present invention. In the program column 201, a reservation code character string 202 that encodes program reservation information, a number 203 indicating the time of the program, a number 204 indicating the start of the program, a program information character string 205 indicating the program title, and program contents. The program information character string 206 shown is printed. In this embodiment, the reserved code character string 202 uses a total of 29 kinds of characters including 19 uppercase letters and 10 numbers, and is composed of a combined character string of 6 characters of the 29 kinds of characters. Only 19 of the 26 uppercase letters are used because there are characters similar to the number 0 and the uppercase letter O. Also, by reducing the number of used character types to 29, it is possible to greatly improve the accuracy of character recognition and increase the processing speed. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a program reservation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The reservation code character string 202 or the program information character strings 205 and 206 are stored in the image reading unit 10.
In step 1, the image is optically read and passed to the control unit 102 as a character string image. The control unit 102 passes the character string image to a different processing unit depending on the reservation code reading mode or the program information reading mode. First, in the reserved code reading mode, the character string to be recognized is only alphanumeric characters, so the character string image is passed to the alphanumeric character recognition unit 104. The alphanumeric character recognition unit 104 character-recognizes the passed character string image and converts it into an alphanumeric character code string. The reservation information conversion unit 105 receives the alphanumeric code string and converts it into reservation information of the channel, date, recording start time, and recording end time of the program, and the control unit 1
Pass the reservation information to 02. Next, in the program information reading mode, the character string image and the reservation information are displayed in the Japanese recognition unit 10.
Pass to 6. The Japanese recognition unit 106 character-recognizes the passed character string image and converts it into a Japanese character code string representing the program content. The program information addition unit 107 adds the Japanese character code string to the reservation information passed from the control unit 102, and passes the reservation information to the control unit 102. Then, the transmitting unit 103 converts the reservation information into infrared rays and transmits it to the video recorder to which the reservation information should be set.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the program reservation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The program reservation device 301 pushes the power switch 311 to turn on the power. In order to read the printed character string image of the reserved code character string 305, the reading switch 306 is pressed to trace over the reserved code character string 305 and read by the image reading sensor 304. The read image is character-recognized and converted into reservation information, and the obtained reservation information is displayed on the LCD (liquid crystal display device) 302. When correction is necessary, a correction button A308 and a correction button B309
Use to correct. The reservation code reading mode and the program information reading mode are switched by pressing the changeover switch 310. Click the submit button 30 for the decided reservation information.
By pressing 7, the infrared light emitting unit 303 transmits the reservation information to the infrared light receiving unit of the video recorder in which the reservation information should be set.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information in the embodiment of the present invention. The reservation information read from the printed matter is L
It is displayed on the CD 401 as shown in FIG. The reservation information to be displayed is the program channel 402, date 403, recording start time 404, recording end time 405, and program content 406.
By including the program content 406 in the reservation information, it is possible to determine at first glance what the reserved program is by displaying the reservation information in the video recorder to which the reservation information is transmitted. Is.

As described above, in the program reservation device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the reservation code character string printed on the program column of a newspaper or magazine is converted into a character code string by character recognition, and the character code string is converted. The code string is converted into reservation information and transmitted to the video recorder to which the reservation information should be set. Also, the program information character string representing the program content printed in the program section is converted into a character code string by character recognition, and the character code string is added to the reservation information.

Therefore, there is no need to set the channel, date, recording start time and recording end time using the setting keys, which is very simple and accurate. Further, as compared with the method using the bar code, the reserved code character string has a very small print area, and it is possible to print each program in the program column. In other words, since it is not necessary to provide a dedicated page like a barcode, it is very easy to understand and there is no waste of paper space. Further, since the reserved code character string uses general characters, the printing technique is simple and the printing cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the program information character string representing the content of the program can be easily added to the reservation information, it is possible to determine at first glance what the reserved program is. This makes it possible not only to know immediately what program I have reserved, but also to see at a glance what program another person, such as a family, has booked. It is very convenient when the recorder is used by multiple people.

Further, although the program reservation device is a single unit in this embodiment, it is possible to store the program reservation device in the operation remote controller of the video recorder. In that case, all operations related to the video recorder can be performed by the remote controller, which is very convenient.

Further, by changing the transmission data of the reservation information according to the video recorders of a plurality of manufacturers, it becomes possible to reserve the video recorders of a plurality of manufacturers with one program reservation device.

In the present embodiment, the program reservation device is a portable and independent device. However, only the image reading part and the transmitting part are stored in the portable part, and character recognition and conversion of character strings into reservation information is video. By dividing the functions such as processing in the recorder body, the portable unit can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

[0022]

As described above, the program reservation device of the present invention converts a reservation code character string printed in a program column of a newspaper or a magazine into a character code string by character recognition, and the character code It is possible to convert columns into reservation information. Further, it is possible to convert the program information character string representing the program content printed in the program section into a character code string by character recognition and add the character code string to the reservation information.

Therefore, the channel, date, recording start time and recording end time, which are the program reservation information, can be very easily set.
Can be set accurately. Further, the reservation code character string has a very small print area, and can be printed for each program in the program section. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a page dedicated to reservation information, and it is very easy to understand and there is no waste of space. Further, since the reserved code character string uses general characters, the printing technique is simple and the printing cost can be reduced.

Further, since the program information character string representing the contents of the program can be easily added to the reservation information, it is possible to determine at first glance what the reserved program is. This makes it possible not only to know immediately what program I have reserved, but also to see at a glance what program another person, such as a family, has booked. It is very convenient when the recorder is used by multiple people.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a program section in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a program reservation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a reservation information conversion unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a program information conversion unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 104 alphanumeric character recognition unit 105 reservation information conversion unit 106 Japanese recognition unit 107 program information addition unit 202 reservation code character string 205 program information character string 406 program content

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical reading means for optically reading an image of a reservation code character string which encodes reservation information of a program printed in a program column of at least a newspaper or a magazine, and character recognition of the character string image. A program reservation device comprising a character recognition means for converting a character code string and a reservation information conversion means for converting the character code string into reservation information. 2. An optical reading means for optically reading an image of a program information character string representing a program title, a program content of a performer, etc. printed in a program section of at least a newspaper or a magazine, and the character string image. A program reservation device comprising character recognition means for recognizing characters and converting them into character code strings, and program content adding means for adding the character code strings to reservation information.