JP2006345365A - Video on-demand terminal device and content selection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a VOD terminal device which can execute a selection of contents in a short time. <P>SOLUTION: A VOD terminal device 1 which receives a content selected through an IP network 6 from a distribution server 3 is provided with a content list acquiring portion 14 which acquires content list information from a billing server 5 performing a billing management of contents, a content list display unit 13 which displays information of contents described in the content list information, and a content selector 7 which selects a content receiving a distribution from the information of the displayed content. In the VOD terminal device 1, a content selection is performed by referring to a content list stored in the device. Therefore, load of a network upon content selection is reduced, the content selection can be performed in a short time, and convenience of a user of a VOD service can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a VOD terminal device that acquires selected content from a video-on-demand (hereinafter referred to as “VOD”) system, and a method for selecting the content, and more particularly, content can be quickly selected. Is.

  In the VOD system, a VOD server that stores videos of a plurality of titles is requested video in response to a request transmitted from a terminal device called a set top box (hereinafter referred to as “STB”). A system that transmits content to a requesting STB, and the video transmitted to the STB is displayed on a TV screen or the like. Therefore, the user can view a favorite video and audio when he / she likes.

In a conventional VOD system, for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, a VOD terminal receives display menu data from a Web server, and content is selected on a browser screen. When the user selects content that the user wants to see, the VOD terminal transmits a file delivery request to the Web server, and the Web server that has received the request sends Web data including the program name of the selected content to the VOD terminal. The VOD terminal generates a video distribution request based on the Web data and transmits it to the VOD server, and the VOD server distributes the requested video data to the VOD terminal. The VOD terminal restores the moving image and audio from the received video data and displays them on the monitor.
JP-A-9-331517

  However, in the conventional content selection method, when the number of contents stored in the VOD server increases, the VOD terminal device needs to receive a large amount of display menu data from the Web server.

  In addition, the user operates the buttons on the remote controller to search for the content to be viewed from the display menu displayed on the monitor screen. However, as the number of contents accumulated increases, It is necessary to repeat the screen transition on the browser by frequently pressing the up / down / left / right buttons.

  Such an increase in traffic on the network and an increase in screen transitions on the browser cause a long time for selecting content.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a VOD terminal device capable of executing content selection in a short time, and to provide a content selection method thereof.

  In the present invention, a VOD terminal device that receives selected content from a distribution server via an IP network, a content list acquisition unit that acquires content list information from a billing server that performs content billing management, and the content list information are described in the content list information. A content list display unit that displays information on the content that has been displayed, and a content selection unit that selects content to be distributed from the displayed content information.

  In this VOD terminal device, content is selected with reference to a content list stored in the device.

  In addition, the VOD terminal device of the present invention is configured such that the content list display unit displays information on content attributes described in the content list information and also displays information on content having the selected attributes. Yes.

  In this VOD terminal device, only the content having the selected attribute is displayed from the contents described in the content list information. If the selection of the attribute is changed, the display is switched to only the content having the attribute.

  Further, in the VOD terminal device of the present invention, the content list display unit is configured to restrict the information on the content to be displayed based on the age restriction information of the content described in the content list information.

  In this VOD terminal device, content that is subject to age restriction is not displayed as content to be selected.

  According to the present invention, a content selection method for a VOD terminal device that receives selected content from a distribution server via an IP network, a first step of acquiring content list information from a billing server that performs billing management for the content, A second step of displaying content information described in the list information and a third step of selecting content to be distributed from the displayed content information are included.

  In this method, content selection is performed with reference to a content list stored in the VOD terminal device.

  In the content selection method of the present invention, in the second step, information on the content attributes described in the content list information is displayed, and information on the content having the selected attributes is displayed.

  Therefore, only the content having the selected attribute is displayed from the content described in the content list information.

  In the content selection method of the present invention, in the second step, the information on the content to be displayed is restricted based on the age restriction information on the content described in the content list information.

  Therefore, only content that is not subject to age restrictions is displayed on the content selection screen.

  In the VOD terminal device and content selection method of the present invention, content is selected by referring to the content list stored in the VOD terminal, so that the network load during content selection is reduced and content selection is performed in a short time. Therefore, the convenience of the user of the VOD service is improved.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a VOD terminal and a VOD system including the VOD terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  This system includes a VOD terminal 1, a VOD server 3, a Web server 4, a charging server 5, and an IP network 6 that connects them. The VOD terminal 1 includes a monitor 2, a remote controller 7, and the like. Comes with.

  The VOD server 3 registers and stores VOD content. The Web server 4 holds a file describing detailed information of VOD content and serves as a reception window for VOD service. The billing server 5 holds content list information in which the address, fee, title, and the like of the VOD content are described as information necessary for billing the VOD content user.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of content list information held by the billing server 5. This content list information includes information such as the name of the content registered in the VOD server 3, the uniform resource locator (hereinafter referred to as “URL”), genre, viewing age, and fee of the content. . As the viewing target age, the lower limit of the allowable age is described for content with age restriction, and “-” is described for content without age restriction.

  The remote controller 7 is used to operate the screen displayed on the monitor 2, and as shown in FIG. 4, a power button 71, a menu button 72, a numeric button 73, an upper button 741, a lower button 744, and a right button. A button 743, a left button 742, an enter button 75, and the like are included.

  Further, the VOD terminal 1 includes a network connection unit 16, a remote control data reception unit 15, a video / audio decoding unit 11, a video / audio output unit 12, and an OSD (On Screen Display) control unit that controls superimposed display. 13, a browser display unit 18, a content list acquisition unit 14, and a content list storage unit 17.

  The network connection unit 16 connects the VOD terminal 1 to the IP network 6. The remote control data receiving unit 15 receives data from the remote controller 7. The video / audio decoding unit 11 decodes the video / audio of the VOD content received from the VOD server 3 via the network connection unit 16. The browser display unit 18 performs processing for displaying data received from the Web server 4 via the network connection unit 16. The content list acquisition unit 14 acquires content list information from the accounting server 5 via the network connection unit 16. The content list storage unit 17 stores the content list information acquired by the content list acquisition unit 14. The OSD control unit 13 performs image processing for superimposing and displaying the content list information in accordance with the operation of the remote controller 7. The video / audio output unit 12 is generated by the video / audio data decoded by the video / audio decoding unit 11, image data of the browser screen displayed by the browser display unit 18, and the OSD control unit 13. The image data for superimposed display is output to the monitor 2.

  Next, a content selection method in the VOD terminal 1 will be described.

  The content list acquisition unit 14 of the VOD terminal 1 acquires content list information from the accounting server 5 connected to the network 6 via the network connection unit 16 in advance. The content list acquisition unit 14 stores the content list information in the content list storage unit 17.

  A user who intends to use the VOD service accesses the Web server 4 from the VOD terminal 1. The browser display unit 18 of the VOD terminal 1 performs display processing on the data sent from the Web server 4, and the video / audio output unit 12 outputs the data to the monitor 2. A screen is displayed.

  A user who selects the content of the VOD service performs a predetermined operation from the remote controller 7. The instruction from the remote controller 7 is sent to the OSD control unit 13 through the remote control data receiving unit 15.

  When a predetermined instruction is input from the remote controller 7, the OSD control unit 13 reads the content list information from the content list storage unit 17, converts the content name and fee of the content list information into image data, and outputs video / audio. Output to the output unit 12. The video / audio output unit 12 superimposes the image data output from the OSD control unit 13 on the image data output from the browser display unit 18 and outputs the image data to the monitor 2.

  As a result of this processing, the monitor 2 displays the image data (content selection image) 23 output from the OSD control unit 13 so as to overlap the browser screen as shown in FIG. The cursor 22 in FIG. 3 moves up and down on the content selection image 23 by operating the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7, and the content at the position of the cursor 22 is sequentially switched by this operation.

  At this time, the OSD control unit 13 receives the button operation of the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7 and receives the image data of the content selection image 23 in which the display position of the cursor 22 is updated to the video / audio output unit 12. Output.

  The user operates the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7 to move the cursor 22 to the desired content on the content selection image 23 and then presses the decision button 75.

  When the OSD control unit 13 receives the data of the determination button 75 via the remote control data receiving unit 15, the OSD control unit 13 reads the URL of the content corresponding to the position of the cursor 22 from the content list information and transmits it to the browser display unit 18.

  The browser display unit 18 outputs the URL image received from the OSD control unit 13 to the video / audio output unit 12. The video / audio output unit 12 switches the video output to the monitor 2 to the image output from the browser display unit 18. Thereby, the URL of the content selected by the user on the content selection image 23 is displayed on the browser screen, and the content desired for the VOD service is selected.

  The distribution request for the selected content is made from the VOD terminal 1 to the Web server 4 as in the conventional system. At this time, the Web server 4 sends Web data including the detailed information of the content specified by the URL to the VOD terminal 1, and the VOD terminal 1 generates a video distribution request based on the Web data and sends it to the VOD server 3. Send. In response to this, the VOD server 3 distributes the requested video data to the VOD terminal 1.

  In this case, the VOD terminal 1 displays the detailed information of the content received from the Web server 4 on the monitor 2, and when a determination operation is performed by the user who sees the content, the video distribution request is sent to the VOD server 3. May be transmitted.

  Further, using the URL specified at the time of selecting the content, the detailed information of the content and the video data of the content may be directly acquired from the URL.

  Thus, in this content selection method of the VOD terminal, once the content list information is received and stored, it is not necessary to receive a large amount of display menu data one by one when selecting the content. Can be selected in a short time.

  Note that only the content name may be displayed as the content selection image 23.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the content selection image 23 displayed in a superimposed manner on the browser screen is displayed side by side in the horizontal direction of the screen, and the cursor 22 is moved to the left and right by the operation of the left button 742 or the right button 743 of the remote controller 7. You may make it do.

  Alternatively, only the content before and after the content at the position of the cursor 22 may be displayed as the content selection image 23, and the content name displayed as the content selection image 23 may be switched as the cursor 22 moves.

  Moreover, although the case where screen operation was performed using the remote controller 7 was described here, a touch panel may be used.

  Also, here, the case where the content selection image 23 is displayed in a superimposed manner on the browser screen has been described, but not only that, but the video distributed from the VOD server 3 is decoded and displayed by the video / audio decoding unit 11. In such a case, the content selection image 23 may be superimposed on the screen, or the content selection image 23 may be superimposed on another screen to enable selection of the content.

(Second Embodiment)
In the second embodiment of the present invention, a content selection method for shortening the content selection time by limiting the content to be displayed as the content selection image will be described.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration of the OSD control unit 13 of the VOD terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The OSD control unit 13 includes an attribute information control unit 131 that classifies content list information according to content attributes, and a display control unit 132 that controls superimposed display of content list information. Other configurations of the VOD terminal are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIG. 1).

  The attribute information control unit 131 of the OSD control unit 13 classifies the content included in the content list information based on the attribute (here, “genre” is taken as an example). When a predetermined instruction is input from the remote controller 7, the attribute information control unit 131 displays all genre names included in the content list information and content name and fee information belonging to the first set genre. The information is output to the display control unit 132. The display control unit 132 converts the information sent from the attribute information control unit 131 into image data and outputs the image data to the video / audio output unit 12.

  FIG. 7 shows a display screen of the monitor 2 in which the image data (the attribute selection image 24 and the content selection image 23) output from the display control unit 132 is superimposed on the browser screen of FIG.

  The attribute cursor 241 in FIG. 7 is moved up and down on the attribute selection image 24 by the operation of the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7, and the genre at the position of the attribute cursor 241 is sequentially switched by this operation.

  At this time, the attribute information control unit 131 of the OSD control unit 13 receives the button operation of the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7 and displays the content name and fee information belonging to the genre at the display position of the attribute cursor 241. In response to this button operation, the display control unit 132 outputs image data of the genre selection image 24 in which the display position of the attribute cursor 241 is updated and the content selection image 23 in the updated genre. Is output to the video / audio output unit 12.

  On the other hand, the content cursor 231 in FIG. 7 moves to the left and right on the content selection image 23 by the operation of the right button 743 or the left button 742 of the remote controller 7, and the content at the content cursor 231 position is sequentially switched by this operation. At this time, the display control unit 132 of the OSD control unit 13 displays the image data of the content selection image 23 in which the display position of the content cursor 231 is updated in accordance with the operation of the right button 743 or the left button 742 of the remote controller 7. Output to the audio output unit 12.

  The user operates the upper button 741 or the lower button 744 of the remote controller 7 to select a favorite genre from the attribute selection image 24, and the right button 743 of the remote controller 7 from the content selection image 23 displayed at that time. Alternatively, the user selects the desired content by operating the left button 742 and presses the enter button 75.

  When the OSD control unit 13 receives the data of the determination button 75 via the remote control data receiving unit 15, the OSD control unit 13 reads the URL of the content corresponding to the position of the content cursor 231 from the content list information and transmits it to the browser display unit 18.

  The browser display unit 18 outputs the URL image received from the OSD control unit 13 to the video / audio output unit 12, and the video / audio output unit 12 outputs the video output to the monitor 2 from the browser display unit 18. Switch to the selected image. Thereby, the URL of the content selected by the user on the content selection image 23 is displayed on the browser screen, and the content desired for the VOD service is selected.

  As described above, in this content selection method, even when there are many contents registered in the VOD server 3, the content list information can be searched according to the attributes, so that the desired content can be searched in a short time. Become.

(Third embodiment)
In the third embodiment of the present invention, a content selection method for limiting content to be displayed as a content selection image based on an age attribute will be described.

  Here, a case where the user of the VOD terminal is under 15 years old will be described as an example.

  The configuration of the VOD terminal is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1). However, it is assumed that the age information of the user is registered in the VOD terminal 1 in advance.

  When the user who wants to select the content of the VOD service performs a predetermined operation from the remote controller 7, the OSD control unit 13 reads the content list information from the content list storage unit 17, and can be viewed at the user's age from among them. Only the content is selected, the content name and fee are converted into image data, and output to the video / audio output unit 12.

  FIG. 8 shows a display screen of the monitor 2 in which the content selection image 23 output from the OSD control unit 13 is superimposed on the browser screen of FIG. The content selection image 23 includes “program 1”, “program 2”, “program 3”, “program 5”, “program 6”, and “program 9” that can be viewed by users under the age of 15 in the content list information of FIG. Is displayed, and the user can select only from these programs.

  Thus, in this content selection method, viewing restrictions based on the age of content provided by the VOD service can be easily implemented.

  Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the matters shown in the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make modifications and applications based on the description and well-known techniques. This is also the scope of the present invention, and is included in the scope of seeking protection.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used in various VOD services as a VOD terminal that can quickly select distribution content and a content selection method thereof.

The block diagram of the VOD system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows an example of the content list information in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of a display on the monitor in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows an example of the remote controller in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the other example of a display on the monitor in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows the OSD control part in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of a display on the monitor in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of a display on the monitor in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention Figure showing the browser screen on the monitor

Explanation of symbols

1 VOD terminal 2 Monitor 3 VOD server 4 WEB server 5 Billing server 6 Network 7 Remote controller 11 Video / audio decoding unit 12 Video / audio output unit 13 OSD control unit 14 Content list acquisition unit 15 Remote control data reception unit 16 Network connection unit 17 Content List Storage Unit 18 Browser Display Unit 22 Cursor 23 Content Selection Image 24 Attribute Selection Image 71 Power Button 72 Menu Button 73 Numeric Button 75 Decision Button 131 Attribute Information Control Unit 132 Display Control Unit 231 Content Cursor 241 Attribute Cursor 741 Up Button 742 Left button 743 Right button 744 Down button

Claims (6)

A video-on-demand terminal device that receives selected content from a distribution server through an IP network,
A content list acquisition unit that acquires content list information from a charging server that performs charging management of the content;
A content list display unit for displaying information on the content described in the content list information;
A content selection unit for selecting content to be distributed from the displayed content information;
A video-on-demand terminal device comprising: The video-on-demand terminal device according to claim 1,
A video-on-demand terminal device, wherein the content list display unit displays information on content attributes described in the content list information, and displays information on content having the selected attributes. The video on demand terminal device according to claim 1 or 2,
The video-on-demand terminal device, wherein the content list display unit restricts information on the content to be displayed based on age restriction information of the content described in the content list information. A content selection method for a video-on-demand terminal device for receiving selected content from a distribution server via an IP network,
A first step of acquiring content list information from a billing server that performs billing management of the content;
A second step of displaying content information described in the content list information;
A third step of selecting content to be distributed from the displayed content information;
A content selection method comprising: The content selection method according to claim 4,
In the second step, a content selection method of displaying content attribute information described in the content list information and displaying content information having the selected attribute. The content selection method according to claim 4 or 5,
In the second step, a content selection method for restricting information on the content to be displayed based on age restriction information on the content described in the content list information.

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