JP2002118794A - Receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a receiver that can continuously select channels of an external tuner and an internal tuner, through channel UP/DOWN operations by a remote control device. SOLUTION: When a user depresses the channel UP/DOWN button of the remote control device, the receiver selects an input, when the built-in tuner is set to a specific reception state and allows a control signal transmission section to transmit a remote control code to the external tuner. Furthermore, the receiver stores the number of received channels by the external tuner through the setting by the user and selects indication by the built-in tuner, when the control signal transmission section transmits the remote control code to the external tuner by a specific number of times to cause the channels of the built-in tuner to be made UP/DOWN.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system including a receiver having a tuner and a separate external tuner, wherein the user can easily switch the viewing channel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a conventional technology will be described using a television as an example of a receiver. In a system in which a television having a built-in terrestrial tuner is connected to a tuner other than a terrestrial broadcast such as a BS broadcast or a CS broadcast. When the user switches the broadcast channel for viewing, the user operates the TV remote control to switch the terrestrial channel and the BS
To view the channel on the tuner side, first, the input switch button on the remote control of the TV is operated to switch to the input to which the BS tuner is connected, and then the channel of the BS tuner is switched using the remote control of the BS tuner. .

[0003] Alternatively, the remote controller of the BS tuner is provided with a television input switching button and a television channel up / down button in advance, and by operating these buttons, the television channel and the BS tuner channel are switched to the BS tuner remote controller. Some can be switched and watched.

[0004] Some remote control buttons allow the user to store remote control codes to be transmitted, so that a single remote control can control a plurality of devices. As with the remote control of a BS tuner having a down button, there is a type in which the channel of a plurality of tuners can be switched and viewed by operating these buttons.

[0005] In addition, a TV that can perform a recording reservation setting and does not have a recording function.
Others transmit a remote control code to R to execute a recording operation.

[0006]

With the increase in new broadcasts and media, the number of terrestrial tuners such as BS broadcasts connected to a receiver having a terrestrial tuner and a display unit for viewing is increasing. I have.

Normally, a remote control of a receiver having a built-in television broadcast tuner is provided with an up / down button for switching the channel forward or backward, and the user can easily receive the tuner by pressing this button. The available channels can be switched. However, for example, in the case of a TV with a built-in terrestrial tuner, the remote control attached to the TV can of course switch only the terrestrial channel. Therefore, to watch the channel of the externally connected tuner, first operate the input switch button of the TV remote control, switch the input of the TV to the input to which the external tuner is input, and then attach to the external tuner The user has to select the channel of the external tuner using a remote controller, which is troublesome.

[0008] In addition, there is a case where a channel up / down button of an external tuner connected to one remote controller is additionally provided, but in order to switch a tuner to be viewed, an input is switched using an input switching button of the remote controller. It is troublesome to perform the operation.

When a display becomes thinner such as a plasma display or a liquid crystal display, the display unit may be mounted on a wall. Then, it is expected that the number of peripheral devices to be connected, such as an external tuner, will be increased in a place away from the display. In this case, the operation of the peripheral device is usually performed by a remote control attached to the peripheral device. However, since the receiving unit for receiving the key code transmitted by the remote control is provided in the main body of the peripheral device, it is directed to the peripheral device. Must be operated. However, since the user is watching an image on the display screen, the user may operate the remote controller of the peripheral device toward the screen. At this time, if the display and the peripheral device are set apart from each other, the keyboard of the remote controller may not reach the peripheral device, and it may be considered that the peripheral device may not be controlled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to allow a user to set a channel up / down button of a remote control of a receiver having a tuner and a display unit by using a receiver having a display unit. , The channels displayed on the screen can be switched easily and reliably, including the channels of the built-in tuner as well as the channels of the external tuner. It is intended to be able to watch.

[0011]

In a receiver remotely controlled by a remote controller having a display unit, a tuner, and an external input terminal, a predetermined attribute of an external tuner connected to the external input terminal is set, A microcomputer having an arithmetic control function of detecting an input signal of an input terminal; a remote control code storage unit for storing a key code of a predetermined remote controller for remotely controlling an external tuner connected to the external input terminal; and a connection to the external input terminal A control signal transmitting unit that outputs a key code of a remote controller of the external tuner, receives a key code of channel up / down of the remote controller, and controls a desired key of the remote controller that controls the external tuner connected to the external input terminal. By outputting a code from the control signal transmission unit,
A channel of the tuner and a channel of an external tuner connected to the external input terminal can be continuously switched.

Further, the external input terminal comprises a plurality of input terminals, and by setting a predetermined attribute of the plurality of external tuners connected to the external input terminal, the combination of the plurality of external tuners is also provided. A channel of a tuner and a channel of a plurality of external tuners connected to the external input terminal can be continuously switched.

Further, predetermined attributes of the external tuner connected to the external input terminal include an input terminal to which the external tuner is connected, a manufacturer, a tuner type, and the number of reception channels set by the tuner. To be included.

The detection of the input signal of the external input terminal is performed by detecting the video signal, so that the power of the external tuner connected to the external input terminal is controlled, and the power of the external tuner is turned off. Make sure that the power is turned on even in the state.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a display device and peripheral devices according to the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system using a remote controller. In FIG. 1, 101 is a tuner, a receiver having a display, 102 is a light receiving unit for remote control signals, 103 is a control signal transmitting unit, 104 is an external tuner connected to the receiver, and 105 is a receiver denoted by 101. 2 shows a remote controller to be controlled. The control signal transmission unit 103 has a cable 106 so that the control signal transmission unit 103 can be installed near an external tuner 104 installed at a place remote from the display unit.

In this description, the tuner built into the receiver 101 is a terrestrial tuner, and the external tuner 104 is a BS tuner. However, these tuners may be tuners for other broadcasts.

FIG. 2 shows a front view 200 of the remote control 105 used in the receiver according to the present invention. 201 is a power button, 202 is a cursor up button, 203 is a cursor down button, 204 is a cursor left button, 205 is a cursor right button, 206 is a decision button, 207 is a volume up button, 208 is a volume down button, and 209 is a channel up button. Button, 210 is a channel down button, 211 is a numeric button, 212 is an input switching button, 2
Reference numeral 13 denotes a setting button.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a receiver according to the present invention.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a remote control signal receiving unit; 302, a predetermined attribute of an external tuner connected to the input terminal of the external signal input unit 306 is set; an input signal of the external input terminal is detected; A control microcomputer having an arithmetic control function for controlling
Reference numeral 4 denotes a remote control code storage unit that stores a key code of the remote control, 305 denotes a signal switching unit, 306 denotes an external signal input unit,
Reference numeral 307 denotes a video display unit, and 308 denotes a control signal output unit for controlling an external tuner.

In this receiver, the key codes of the channel up / down and the remote controller of the power source among the remote controller codes of the tuners of the respective companies are stored in the remote controller code storage unit 304 in advance. First, the user needs to set the maker of the connected external tuner so that the receiver can control the channel of the external tuner 104. To enable the tuner channel of the receiver and the channel of the external tuner to be continuously switched using the remote controller of the receiver, the reception channel of the external tuner is set to the channel up or down button of the remote controller. It is necessary to recognize how many times is pressed before all are displayed, and it is necessary to store the number of selectable channels of the external tuner in the receiver.

First, a method of setting the manufacturer of the external tuner to which the user is connected, the number of reception channels of the external tuner, and the input terminal connected to the receiver will be described.

When the user presses the setting button 213 of the remote controller 200, the setting is received by the remote control signal receiving unit 301, and the control microcomputer 302 displays the setting screen shown in FIG. 4 on the screen.

On this setting screen, the input terminal of the receiver to which the connected external tuner 104 is connected, the manufacturer of the external tuner 104, the type of tuner, and the number of receivable channels can be set. Cursor up / down / left / right buttons 202-20 of remote control 200
5. The setting operation is performed by pressing the enter button 206 and the numeric button 211.

According to the setting on this setting screen, the control microcomputer 302 determines the input terminal to which the external tuner 104 is connected, the maker and type of the external tuner, and the number of receivable channels in an internal memory (not shown) of the control microcomputer 302. ). Thereby, the control microcomputer 3
02 can specify a remote control code used when controlling the channel of the external tuner, and the control signal output unit 308
By transmitting a channel up / down key code of a remote controller of the external tuner 104 and a key code of a power source from the remote controller, the channel of the external tuner 104 can be controlled as described later. In addition, the number of times for displaying all the channels of the external tuner 104 in forward or reverse order can be grasped.

When these settings are made only for input 1 on the setting screen, it is determined that the external tuner is connected to input 1 only. Therefore, in a case where an external tuner is connected to a plurality of inputs, the same setting is performed for each input.

For the sake of simplicity, the external tuner is set separately on the external tuner side so that only the channel with the broadcast signal can be selected with the up / down buttons on the remote control, and the channel without the broadcast signal is skipped. It is assumed that

Next, a description will be given of an operation in which the user continuously switches channels of a tuner built in the receiver and an external tuner by pressing an up button 209 of the remote controller 200, and an operation of the receiver.

The channels that can be received by the tuner of this receiver are terrestrial 1CH, 3CH, 4CH, 6CH, 8
The channels that can be received by the external tuner are a total of 7 channels of CH, 10CH and 12CH, and the BS broadcast BS
1, BS2, BS3, BS4, BS5, BS6, BS
7, BS8, BS9, and BS10,
The following description will be made on the assumption that the external tuner 104 is connected to the input 1 among a plurality of external inputs of the receiver.

The receiver is currently equipped with 10 internal tuners.
When CH is displayed, when the channel up button 209 of the remote controller 200 is pressed, the remote control signal receiving unit 301 shown in FIG. 3 receives the remote control code, the control microcomputer 302 controls the channel selection unit 303, An image of 12CH, which is a channel having one more channel number, is displayed on the image display unit 307.

In this state, when the channel up button 209 of the remote controller 200 is pressed, the control microcomputer 302 controls the signal switching unit 305 to set the input terminal which is the input terminal set on the setting screen shown in FIG. And the video of the external tuner 104 input to the input 1 terminal of the external signal input unit 306 is displayed on the video display unit 30.
7 is displayed. If the channel previously selected by the external tuner 104 is BS5, the channel displayed at this time is BS5.

At the time of this input switching, the external signal input unit 30
The control microcomputer 302 recognizes whether or not a video signal is input to the input 1 terminal 6 by detecting a synchronization signal of the input video signal, and if the synchronization signal cannot be detected and the video signal is input. If you decide not to
From the control signal output unit 308, that is, the control signal transmission unit 103 shown in FIG. 1, among the remote control codes stored in the remote control code storage unit 304, the manufacturer and tuner of the maker and tuner set on the external tuner setting screen shown in FIG. The remote control code of the power supply is specified, and the power supply code of the connected external tuner 104 is transmitted to turn on the power of the external tuner 104. Thus, even when the power of the external tuner 104 is not turned on, the video of the external tuner 104 is displayed on the video display unit 307.

The above operation will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows a part of the control flow.

At 501 in FIG. 5, the remote control signal receiving unit 30
When 1 receives the up command of the remote controller, the control microcomputer 302 checks at 502 whether the channel of the internal tuner currently received and displayed on the screen is the highest channel. In this example, the top channel of the internal tuner is 12CH and 10CH
Is not the top channel, so the control microcomputer is 50
As shown in 3, the channel selection unit is controlled to switch the channel of the internal tuner to the next higher channel, that is, 12CH.

Further, when the remote control signal receiving section 301 receives the channel up command of the remote control,
It is determined that the channel of the internal tuner currently being received and displayed on the video display unit 307 is the highest-order channel.
Controls the signal switching unit 305 as indicated by 504,
Switch the input to input 1. At this time, as shown by 505, when a video synchronization signal is detected at the input 1, the video of the external tuner 1 is displayed on the screen, but when not detected, the external tuner 1 is displayed. 1
04 is not turned on.
As shown in FIG. 6, the control microcomputer 302 controls the control signal output unit 3
08, a power command for the external tuner 104 is output, and the power of the external tuner 104 is turned on.
The video of the channel that the external tuner 104 is receiving is displayed on the video display unit 307.

Here, the channel of the external tuner 104 displayed on the screen is the channel that the external tuner 104 has received last.

When the channel up button 209 of the remote controller 200 is pressed thereafter, the control microcomputer 302 sends a channel up command of the external tuner 104 from the control signal output unit 308 to change the channel of the external tuner in the forward direction. Switch to the video display unit 3
07. When the channel up button 209 is further pressed, this operation is repeated for the number of channels of the external tuner 104 set on the setting screen shown in FIG. Channel up is counted as the first time).

This operation is repeated ten times, and after the channel of the external tuner 104 is displayed ten times on the video display unit 307, the channel up button 20 of the remote controller 200 is again displayed.
9 is pressed, the control microcomputer 302 first controls the signal switching unit 305 to display the video from the tuning unit 303 on the video display unit 307, and controls the tuning unit 303 to control the built-in receiver of this receiver. The channel with the youngest number is selected from the channels that can be received by the tuner, and the image of 1CH of the built-in tuner of the receiver is displayed on the video display unit 307.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 6, in step 602, the control microcomputer 302 counts the remote control channel up command received by the remote control signal receiving unit 301, and
It is determined whether or not all the channels have been switched. Unless all the channels have been switched, the control signal output unit 3
08, a channel up command of the external tuner 104 is transmitted, and when it is determined in 602 that the number of channels of the external tuner 104 has already been switched,
As in 604, the input is switched to the built-in tuner, and the channel of the built-in tuner is switched to the lowest channel, that is, 1CH.

Thereafter, when the channel up button 209 of the remote controller 200 is pressed, the control microcomputer 302
Controls the channel selection unit 303 to set the reception channels one by one with a large number, that is, 3CH, 4C
H and 6CH are sequentially switched, and the images are displayed on the image display unit 307.

Thus, the remote control 20 of the receiver
By using 0, the channel of the tuner built in the receiver and the channel of the external tuner 104 can be continuously switched for viewing.

As described above, in order to make the operation when the channel up button is operated easy to understand, the processing flow of only the channel up is shown. However, the channel down is also possible by adding a simple flow. Omitted.

Remote control channel down button 210
When the channel down button 210 is pressed while the receiver is displaying 1CH of the built-in tuner, an operation of switching the external input of the receiver to input 1 is performed. The channel down command of the external tuner 104 is transmitted from the control signal output unit 308, that is, the control signal transmission unit 103 in FIG.

When the channel of the external tuner 104 is switched, not only in one direction of up or down, but also when a channel switching command in the reverse direction is received in the middle, the corresponding remote control code is transmitted from the control signal output unit 308. Then, the channel of the external tuner 104 is switched, but the control microcomputer 302 grasps the number of times the channel up and down commands have been received.
It is possible to determine whether all channels 4 have been switched and determine the timing of displaying the channels of the internal tuner.

In this example, the case where only one external tuner is used has been described. However, even when a plurality of tuners are connected to the receiver, each external tuner receives an input using the setting screen shown in FIG. By setting the terminal, manufacturer, number of reception channels, and the like, the channels of the internal tuner and the external tuner can be continuously switched by the remote controller channel up / down operation of the receiver.

For example, the external tuner A,
When the external tuner B is connected to the input 2 terminal, when the channel switching operation of the external tuner A connected to the input 1 terminal is performed, the channel set on the setting screen shown in FIG. When the up / down button of the remote controller 200 is pressed for several minutes after the channel is switched, the control microcomputer 302 controls the signal switching unit 305 to switch to the input 2 which is the input 2 terminal, and The video of the external tuner B input to the input 2 terminal is displayed on the video display unit 307. Thereafter, when the channel up / down button of the remote controller 200 is pressed, the key code of the channel up / down of the external tuner B is transmitted to the control signal output unit 30.
8, that is, by transmitting from the control signal transmitting unit 103 in FIG. 1, the channels of the external tuners A and B can be continuously switched by pressing the channel up / down button of the remote controller 200. .

Here, when a large number of external tuners are connected, it takes a very long time to select a desired tuner channel only by pressing the channel up and down as described above. Conceivable. Therefore, a method for quickly selecting a channel of a desired external tuner will be described.

First, the remote controller 20 shown in FIG.
When an input terminal connected to a desired external tuner is selected by pressing an input switch button of “0” and then channel up / down buttons 209 and 210 are pressed, the channel of the selected external tuner is switched. Is what you do.

For example, an external tuner A,
When the external tuner B is connected to the input 2 terminal and the external tuner C is connected to the input 3 terminal, it is assumed that the receiver 101 displays the channel of the internal tuner. At this time, if the user wants to view the channel of the external tuner B, the user presses the input switch button 212 of the remote controller 200 to display the image of the external tuner B on the display. This is because the control microcomputer 302 operates the signal switching unit 30
5 can be switched. At this time,
The control microcomputer 302 recognizes that the image displayed on the image display unit 307 is an image of a device connected to the input 2 terminal, and in this state,
When the channel up / down buttons 209 and 210 of “0” are pressed, the control microcomputer 302 sets the remote control code stored in the remote control code storage unit 304 to the input 2 terminal on the external tuner setting screen shown in FIG. The remote control code of the channel up / down of the tuner of the set maker is specified, transmitted from the control signal output unit 308, and the channel of the tuner B is switched.

As described above, when there are many external tuners connected, the input switch button 21
By using 2 in combination, it is possible to quickly select a desired channel of the external tuner.

In this embodiment, the present receiver has been described as an integrated receiver having a display unit and a built-in tuner unit. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the built-in tuner unit or the external input connection terminal unit 702 is used. Display unit 701
Also included are those configured separately.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the channel of the external tuner connected by operating the channel up / down button can be viewed without performing the input switching operation. In other words, without using the external tuner remote control, you can operate and watch the channel of the external tuner as if it were a built-in tuner, and the user only needs to operate the channel up and down buttons,
It becomes possible to switch and watch the channels that can be viewed.

Further, even if the external tuner is installed at a place remote from the receiver having the display unit, the external tuner can be controlled reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a system including a receiver and an externally connected tuner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a remote controller used for the receiver of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a receiver according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a setting screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating channel switching from an internal tuner to an external tuner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating switching of channels from an external tuner to an internal tuner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another configuration of the receiver according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Receiver, 102 ... Remote control signal receiving unit, 10
3 ... Control signal transmitting unit, 104 ... External tuner, 105
... remote control, 106 ... cable, 200 ... front view of the remote control, 201 ... power button, 202 ... cursor up button, 203 ... cursor down button, 204 ... cursor left button, 205 ... cursor right button, 206 ... decision button, 207 ... Volume up button, 208 Volume down button, 209 Channel up button, 210 Channel down button, 211 Numeric button, 212 Input switching button, 213 Setting button, 301 Remote control signal receiving section, 302 Control microcomputer, 303 ... Tuning section,
304: remote control code storage unit, 305: signal switching unit,
306: external signal input unit, 307: video display unit, 308
... Control signal output unit, 701 ... Display unit, 702 ...
Tuner with built-in separate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme court ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/445 H04N 5/445 Z (72) Inventor Shinji Shinno 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture. F-term in Hitachi Digital Media System Division (Reference) 5C025 AA23 BA21 CA09 CB10 DA04 DA08 5C056 AA04 BA02 BA05 BA06 DA01 DA11 KA01 5K061 AA03 AA09 BB07 BB19 CC00 CC45 DD11 EF01 GG11 JJ06 JJ07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A receiver having a built-in tuner for receiving a predetermined broadcast and selecting a channel by a predetermined remote controller, wherein an external input for connecting an external tuner for receiving a broadcast different from the predetermined broadcast is provided. Terminal, a control signal storage unit for storing a control signal for selecting a channel of the external tuner, a control signal transmitting unit for transmitting the control signal, and setting a predetermined attribute of the external tuner, the external input terminal A control unit that detects the input of the attribute, the control unit transmits the control signal to the control signal transmission unit based on the attribute, based on the detection of the input, according to an instruction of the remote controller, A receiver wherein a channel of a built-in tuner and a channel of the external tuner are continuously switched and displayed. 2. The external input terminal can connect a plurality of external tuners, the control unit sets a predetermined attribute of the plurality of external tuners, and sets a channel of the built-in tuner and the plurality of external tuners. 2. The receiver according to claim 1, wherein the channel is continuously switched and displayed. 3. The receiver according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined attribute is a terminal to which the external tuner is connected, a manufacturer, a type of the tuner, or the number of reception channels set by the tuner. . 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detection of the input of the external input terminal is performed by detecting a video signal, whereby the control unit controls a power supply of the external tuner. Receiver according to any of the above. 5. When an instruction from said remote controller is received while an input from said external input terminal is detected,
5. The reception device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the control signal transmission unit to transmit a predetermined control signal corresponding to an external tuner connected to the detected external input terminal. 6. Machine.