JP2008148190A - Video recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video recorder for recording a target program on videotape certainly as required when a predetermined program, which is periodically broadcast, is recorded on the videotape. <P>SOLUTION: The video recorder 1 includes a tuner, a demodulator, a decoder, an image synthesis unit, a controller, a memory and the like. A video image data, and voice data, and EPG data are extracted by the tuner, the demodulator, and the decoder. In a ROM in the controller, a recording reservation program, a recording indication program, and the like are recorded. In the controller, an electronic program guide is beforehand investigated before the recording of next week by implementing a recording time adjustment program so that whether there is any time lag is investigated (ST1). When there is no time lag, recording is started at the recording schedule time. When there are time lag and deviation of date, recording reservation information is updated (ST3-ST6), and recording reservation information is deleted if it is the second time where the programming is not broadcast. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for selecting and recording a program from an electronic program guide, and more particularly to a recording apparatus having a function of periodically recording a predetermined program.

  In the current digital broadcasting, broadcast stations broadcast program information in addition to broadcast programs (hereinafter simply referred to as “programs”). More specifically, the broadcast station sends out program content several hours ahead, channel content, etc. as program information. The broadcast receiving device on the receiving side receives the program information transmitted from the broadcasting station side. Then, the broadcast receiving apparatus creates an electronic program guide from the program information and provides the user with the electronic program guide on the screen. The electronic program guide is, for example, EPG (Electronic Program Guide).

In recent years, as the number of broadcasts has increased, the contents of programs have been diversified. By using this electronic program guide, a user can easily select a channel.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 proposes a recording apparatus that flexibly sets a recording reservation time.
JP 2006-50302 A

  However, when recording periodically (for example, every week, at a certain time every day), once the recording reservation is set in the EPG, only the time and date for the first recording of the subsequent program are stored, and thereafter It was not flexible enough to cope with changes in recording time and recording date. Therefore, when the start time is extended due to the extension of baseball broadcasting, the target program cannot be recorded completely, such as recording the wrong one or starting the program halfway and ending halfway. There was a case.

  In addition, the conventional recording device continues to record even after the end of the continuous drama unless the user actively instructs the end of the recording. Therefore, there is a possibility that the user is required to perform a troublesome process such as wasting recording capacity or erasing again.

  The present invention is intended to solve such a conventional problem, and provides a recording apparatus that reliably records a target program as necessary when recording a predetermined program broadcast periodically. For the purpose.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.

(1) receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal and an electronic program guide transmitted from a broadcasting station;
Display means for outputting a display signal for displaying the electronic program guide on a display screen;
In the state where the display signal of the electronic program guide is output, the selection of the program to be reserved for recording is received from the programs in the electronic program guide, and the selection is made to record the selected program at a predetermined cycle. Recording reservation receiving means for receiving;
Storage means for storing recording reservation information including the program name and broadcast time of the program that has received the recording reservation;
In a recording apparatus comprising: a recording instruction unit that instructs to start recording a program based on the recording reservation information when the recording reservation is received;
Detecting means for detecting a program name included in the recording reservation information from the electronic program guide, and acquiring information of a program corresponding to the detected program name;
A recording apparatus comprising: a recording time control unit that performs the following control before each scheduled recording date when recording by a predetermined period is received by the recording reservation receiving unit.
(A) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is detected, the recording reservation information is updated to the program information acquired by the detection means,
(B) If the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected, the recording instruction means is instructed not to record the program,
(C) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is invalidated.

  In this configuration, when a selection to record at every predetermined cycle is received, the recording time control means (A) detects a program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means. Updates the recording reservation information to the program information acquired by the detecting means. Here, since the recording instruction means instructs the start of recording based on the updated recording reservation information, the recording time can be adjusted. Therefore, even if there is a time lag, it can be recorded reliably.

  (B) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected, the recording instruction means is instructed not to record the program. Accordingly, it is possible to eliminate the possibility of requiring troublesome processing for the user, such as recording an unrelated program, wasting recording capacity, or deleting the program again. Further, (C) when the program name included in the recording reservation information cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is invalidated. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the possibility of recording a program unrelated to the program reserved for recording and continuously reducing the recordable capacity.

  As described above, according to this configuration, when a predetermined program broadcast periodically is recorded, the target program can be reliably recorded as necessary.

(2) In the recording apparatus according to claim 2, the following operation (D) is performed instead of the step (C).
(D) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, a confirmation display of the recording reservation content is performed.

  If the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, it can be determined that the broadcast program has ended. According to this configuration, when it can be determined that the broadcast program has ended, the recording reservation content confirmation display for recording is performed, which is convenient for the user.

  (3) The recording time control means operates on a predetermined N days before each scheduled recording date after the date when the recording reservation is accepted or the date when the previous recording was performed, and in (A), the recording reservation information Are detected from the electronic program guide for N days before and after the scheduled broadcast date.

  In this configuration, in (A), the program name corresponding to the recording reservation information is detected from the electronic program guide for N days before and after the scheduled broadcast date. Even if there is a deviation in the broadcast date, the broadcast date can be corrected flexibly. Therefore, it is possible to reliably record a predetermined program broadcast periodically.

  (4) The detection means calculates a similarity between each of the program name in the electronic program guide and the program name in the recording reservation information, and detects those that are equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

  In this configuration, since the determination is made using the similarity between the program name in the electronic program guide and the program name in the recording reservation information, even if the program names in the electronic broadcast program guide do not completely match, (Broadcast date) can be corrected. Therefore, when a predetermined program broadcast periodically is recorded, the program can be recorded more reliably.

  According to the present invention, when a predetermined program broadcast periodically is recorded, the target program can be reliably recorded as necessary.

  Hereinafter, a digital broadcast recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a digital broadcast recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recording apparatus 1 includes a tuner 11 that extracts a TV broadcast signal of a selected channel (hereinafter referred to as CH), a demodulator 12 that demodulates the extracted TV broadcast signal into digital data, and video data from the demodulated digital data. And a decoder 13 that decompresses both data, an image synthesizer 14 that synthesizes a desired OSD (On Screen Display) and a video based on the video data, and a signal of the video data and the audio data. A D / A converter 15 for converting to an analog signal; an operation unit 18 for accepting a user operation; a control unit 2 for controlling each unit of the apparatus; and a memory 26 for storing EPG data, control information, and recording reservation information And a recording unit 27 for recording the recorded video signal. In addition, a display unit 102 for displaying video and a speaker 103 for generating sound outside the apparatus are provided outside the recording apparatus 1.

The tuner 11 extracts (receives) the TV broadcast signal of the channel selected by the control unit 2 from the TV broadcast signal received by the antenna 30 and outputs the TV broadcast signal.
The demodulator 12 demodulates the television broadcast signal output from the tuner 11 into a transport stream that is digital data, and outputs the transport stream.

  Instead of the tuner 11, an A / D converted video signal from an analog tuner may be input to the decoder 13. The electronic program guide may be input by providing a communication unit that communicates with a line such as the Internet or teletext.

  The decoder 13 separates and extracts video data, audio data, and EPG data from the transport stream output from the demodulator 12. Here, the separated and extracted video data is encoded by, for example, MPEG. Then, the decoder 13 decodes the video data and outputs it to the image composition unit 14. The output video data is input to the D / A conversion unit 15 via the image composition unit 14. Further, the decoder 13 decodes the audio data and outputs it to the D / A converter 15. In addition, the decoder 13 outputs the EPG data to the control unit 2.

  The image composition unit 14 includes an image memory (not shown). The image memory is, for example, a VRAM (Video Random Access Memory). The image synthesis unit 14 synthesizes the video based on the video data and the characters or graphics stored in the image memory based on the control signal given from the control unit 2.

  The image composition unit 14 converts EPG data into image data. Then, the image composition unit 14 outputs the image data alone to the D / A conversion unit 15. Alternatively, the image synthesizing unit 14 synthesizes an image based on the image data with a video based on the video data output from the decoder 13 to form synthesized data (display signal). Then, the image synthesis unit 14 outputs the synthesized data to the D / A conversion unit 15. Thereby, for example, an EPG image as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit 102.

The D / A converter 15 converts the video data signal output from the decoder 13 into an analog video signal and outputs the analog video signal to the display unit 102. The display unit 102 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The D / A converter 15 converts the audio data signal output from the decoder 13 into an analog audio signal and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 103.
The user can view the video based on the video signal output from the D / A conversion unit 15 and the audio based on the audio signal on the display unit 102 and the speaker 103.

  The operation unit 18 includes either a tact switch or an infrared remote control device, and transmits an input command to the control unit 2. The operation unit 18 accepts input of commands (commands) such as EPG display, power ON / OFF, channel selection, recording reservation instruction, and volume adjustment.

  The control unit 2 is constituted by a microcomputer, for example. The control unit 2 incorporates a RAM (not shown) as a work field for expanding data processed by the control program.

  The control unit 2 records the EPG data output from the decoder 13 in the memory 26. The memory 26 is composed of, for example, an EEPROM. When the display of EPG is instructed, the control unit 2 reads out the EPG data stored in the memory 26 and outputs it to the image composition unit 14.

  The recording unit 27 is a reading / writing unit for various recording media (HD, DVD, memory card), and includes an HD drive, a DVD reading / recording unit, and a card reading / writing unit corresponding to each. When the start of recording is instructed, the decoded video signal is recorded.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram in the control unit 2. The ROM of the control unit stores a recording reservation program 21, an OSD control program 22 (including an EPG display program 221), a recording time adjustment program 23, and a recording instruction program 24.
The recording reservation program 21 is operated by the control unit 2 when a recording reservation button is pressed from the operation unit 18. When the recording reservation program 21 is executed, the control unit 2 accepts a predetermined operation input in the state displayed by the EPG display program 221 and records recording reservation information (scheduled recording day of the week, time, broadcast station, channel program). Name) is recorded in the memory 26. Further, the recording reservation information may be stored on the hard disk instead of the memory 26.

  When the OSD control program 22 is executed, the frame image in the ROM and the data converted from the data input at the time of recording reservation are combined and sent to the image memory of the image combining unit 15. Alternatively, the control unit 2 may output only data obtained by converting data input at the time of recording reservation into an image, and the image synthesis unit 15 may synthesize the frame image stored in the image memory.

  The OSD control program 22 includes an EPG display program 221 that, when executed, creates a video signal for displaying an EPG (electronic program guide) from the EPG data stored in the memory 26.

  The recording time adjustment program 23 adjusts the recording start time of the recording reservation information and cancels the recording reservation when the program start time is changed or ended when a periodic recording reservation (described later) is received. It is a program to do. The recording time adjustment program 23 includes a program detection program 231 as a subprogram. When the control unit 2 executes the program detection program 231, the tuner 11 receives the EPG, detects the program name corresponding to the program name included in the recording reservation information in the memory 26 from the received EPG, Get information about the program.

  In this detection operation, the EPG data detected and received by the program is compared with the program stored as the recording reservation information to calculate the word similarity. By calculating the similarity, the exact broadcast time (broadcast date) can be flexibly detected even if the broadcast program names do not completely match.

  The recording instruction program 24 is activated at predetermined intervals, refers to the time of the timer 29 and the recording time in the recording reservation information stored in the memory 26, and instructs the recording unit 27 if the time has been reached. To start recording.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example (A) of an EPG screen displayed at the time of recording reservation and a setting display (B) such as a recording reservation time. By using this EPG, the user can make a recording reservation for a program simply by selecting the program. When the recording reservation button is depressed, the recording reservation program 21 is activated, and an EPG as shown in FIG. The currently selected program “Lincoln” is highlighted, and this highlighted display can be moved up, down, left and right by depressing a remote controller of the operation unit 18 or a cross key attached to the main body. When a predetermined determination key is depressed, the OSD control program 22 called from the recording reservation program 21 displays a screen as shown in (B). Various information for recording reservation is described on this screen. In a state where this screen is displayed, the recording reservation program 21 enters a standby state in which a recording mode and a recording medium to be recorded are selected from the user. In the recording mode, the selection of the image quality to be recorded is accepted. In the selection of the recording medium, selection of a hard disk, a DVD, a memory card, etc. is accepted. When the determination button is pressed down from the operation unit 18, the recording reservation information is stored in the memory 26. On the screen (B), periodic recording can be set, and as shown in (B), recording can be performed every Tuesday. When a recording reservation is made with such settings, the recording reservation program 21 also stores this information in the memory 16.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method for adjusting the recording reservation time when receiving an instruction to periodically record such as weekly as described above. The control unit 2 detects that a predetermined date before the scheduled recording date, for example, two days before, is compared with the time of the timer 29. At this timing, the recording time adjustment program 23 is activated, the EPG data in the memory 26 is examined, the broadcast time of the one that matches the designated program name is determined, and the adjustment is automatically made.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, referring to the EPG data (see 221A), if the preset time of the designated program is earlier than the reserved frame 222A, the frame 222A is displayed. Adjust the recording start time and end time to match the EPG data. In terms of implementation, this frame is corrected by updating the recording reservation information in the memory 26. Further, as shown in (B), referring to the EPG data (see 221C), even when the preset time of the designated program is later than the frame 222A, as in (A), the frame 222A To adjust the recording start time and end time to the EP data (see 221D).
When the recording reservation information in the memory 26 is updated by these adjustment operations, the recording instruction program 24 determines the recording start time based on the updated recording reservation information. Therefore, even when the broadcast start time is shifted due to, for example, baseball broadcasting, the designated program can be recorded without excess or deficiency.

  In terms of implementation, when the recording time adjustment program 23 operates, the screen display as shown in FIG. 4 is not performed, and it is not necessary to create screen display data. The recording time adjustment program 23 is activated after the date when the recording reservation is accepted or after the previous recording date.

  FIG. 5 is an example showing a method in which the control unit adjusts the scheduled recording time using the EPG when receiving an instruction to periodically record such as weekly. In this operation, the control unit 2 operates the recording time adjustment program 23 to detect that it is a predetermined date before the scheduled recording date (for example, two days ago).

  In ST1, it is determined whether there is a program reserved for recording at the scheduled recording time. If there is a program reserved for recording at the scheduled recording time (YES in ST1), the recording reservation state is set at ST2, and recording is started at the scheduled recording time by the recording instruction program 24 and the recording unit 26.

  ST3 branches if there is no program reserved for recording at the scheduled recording time (NO in ST1). In ST3, it is determined whether there is a program similar to the program scheduled to be recorded on the scheduled recording date. In determining whether or not they are similar, the character similarity is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the similarity is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (hereinafter, the same applies to the calculation of similarity). This similarity can be, for example, the ratio of matched characters, and at this time, the threshold can be set to 80%, for example.

  When branching to NO in ST1, if there is a program similar to the program scheduled to be recorded on the scheduled recording date (YES in ST3), it can be determined that the time has been changed. In this case, the scheduled recording time recorded in the memory 26 in ST4 is corrected. If there is no program similar to the program scheduled to be recorded on the scheduled recording date (NO in ST2), the process moves to ST5.

  In ST5, it is determined whether there is a program similar to the program scheduled to be recorded on the scheduled recording date ± 2 days. If there is a program similar to the scheduled program on the scheduled recording date ± 2 (YES in ST5), the scheduled recording date and time are adjusted in ST6, and recording is started at the time adjusted in ST2. If there is no program similar to the program scheduled to be recorded on the scheduled recording date ± 2 (NO in ST5), the process moves to ST7.

  Note that when the scheduled recording date ± N days in ST5, it is necessary to operate this flow after the previous recording and before N days before the scheduled recording date. For a program that is broadcast every day, it is sufficient to judge the day before the scheduled recording date.

If the process branches to ST7, it can be determined that the program has ended or that it has not been broadcast during the week. Therefore, it is determined whether there is no program for the second consecutive time. If it is determined that the program has not been broadcast and there is no program for the first time (NO in ST7), the process moves to ST9 and the recording instruction program 24 is prohibited from recording. Specifically, recording prohibition flag information is added to the recording reservation information stored in the memory 26 and stored. In this case, the recording instruction program 24 ends without performing the recording of ST2, but the recording time adjustment program 23 also determines the next week from the beginning of this flow.
Further, in ST7, when there is no program for the second consecutive time (YES in ST7), the process moves to ST8, determines that the continuous program has ended, and deletes the recording reservation. Thereby, it is not necessary to record the finished program without taking time and effort for the user.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a recording time adjustment process different from FIG. FIG. 6 is the same except that ST18 is used instead of ST8 of FIG. 5, and the above description is applied. In ST18, a warning is displayed on the recording apparatus 1 main body. For example, a message “Continuous program has ended” is displayed. This calls attention.

This display may be performed when the recording apparatus 1 is activated. Further, it is determined whether the broadcast program is not detected for the second time in ST7, and if it is the second time (YES in ST7), a warning is displayed in ST18, and it is further determined in ST7 that it is the third time The reservation may be deleted as in ST8.
In ST5, the reservation date is set to ± 2 days, but this ± 2 may be changed by the initial setting. Further, when recording every day, ST5 is not necessary, and when there is no program on the scheduled date in ST3 (NO in ST3), there is no program immediately on that day.

The recording reservation information and EPG data stored in the memory 26 may be stored in the control unit. These recording reservation information and EPG data may be stored anywhere as long as they are stored in the apparatus and can be accessed by the control unit 2. Note that the recording reservation information needs to be stored until the recording ends.
In the above description, the prohibition of recording is instructed using the flag in ST9, but it may be instructed when the direct recording instruction program is called.
Further, the same program may be simply detected without necessarily comparing the similarity between the EPG and the program name related to the recording reservation information. In the above description, the broadcasting time is detected in the order of ST1 → ST3 → ST5. However, if it is possible to detect whether there is a predetermined program for the entire EPG data N days before the scheduled recording date after the previous recording time. The program reservation information may be updated regardless of whether there is a difference in broadcast program broadcast time.
In ST7, the number of continuous times is two, but an embodiment in which the number of times is three or more is also possible.

The block diagram which shows the main structures of the digital broadcast recording device which is embodiment of this invention The block diagram in the control part of the digital broadcast recording device which is embodiment of this invention Example of recording reservation screen using EPG of digital broadcast recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention The example showing the adjustment method of the recording reservation time using EPG of the digital broadcast recording device which is embodiment of this invention Example of flow of adjustment processing of recording time of digital broadcast recording apparatus according to embodiment of the present invention An example of a recording time adjustment process different from FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1-recording device, 11-tuner (reception means), 12-demodulation unit,
13-decoder, 14-image composition unit (display means), 15-D / A conversion unit,
18-operation unit, 2-control unit, 21 recording reservation program (recording reservation receiving means),
22-OSD control program (display means), 221-EPG display program,
23-Recording time adjustment program (recording time control means),
231-program detection program (detection means),
24-Recording instruction program (recording instruction means),
26-memory (storage means), 27-recording unit, 29-timer,
101-antenna, 102-display unit, 103-speaker

Claims (5)

Receiving means for receiving a TV broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station and an electronic program guide;
Display means for outputting a display signal for displaying the electronic program guide on a display screen;
In the state where the display signal of the electronic program guide is output, the selection of the program to be reserved for recording is received from the programs in the electronic program guide, and the selection is made to record the selected program at a predetermined cycle. A recording reservation receiving means for receiving;
Storage means for storing recording reservation information for the program reserved for recording;
In a recording apparatus comprising: a recording instruction unit that instructs to start recording a program based on the recording reservation information when the recording reservation is received;
Detecting means for detecting a program name included in the recording reservation information from an electronic program guide for N days before and after the scheduled broadcast date, and detecting information of a program corresponding to the detected program name; Detecting means for calculating the degree of similarity between the program name in the recording schedule information and the program name in the recording schedule information, and detecting a value equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold;
When recording by the recording reservation accepting unit is accepted every predetermined period, the date after the date when the recording reservation is accepted or after the last recording date, N days before the scheduled recording date, And a recording time control means for controlling the recording.
(A) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is detected, the recording reservation information is updated to the program information acquired by the detection means,
(B) If the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected, the recording instruction means is instructed not to record the program,
(C) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is invalidated. Receiving means for receiving a TV broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station and an electronic program guide;
Display means for outputting a display signal for displaying the electronic program guide on a display screen;
In the state where the display signal of the electronic program guide is output, the selection of the program to be reserved for recording is received from the programs in the electronic program guide, and the selection is made to record the selected program at a predetermined cycle. A recording reservation receiving means for receiving;
Storage means for storing recording reservation information including the program name and broadcast time of the program that has received the recording reservation;
In a recording apparatus comprising: a recording instruction unit that instructs to start recording a program based on the recording reservation information when the recording reservation is received;
Detecting means for detecting a program name included in the recording reservation information from the electronic program guide, and acquiring information of a program corresponding to the detected program name;
A recording apparatus comprising: a recording time control unit that performs the following control before each scheduled recording date when recording by a predetermined period is received by the recording reservation receiving unit.
(A) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is detected, the recording reservation information is updated to the program information acquired by the detection means,
(B) If the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected, the recording instruction means is instructed not to record the program,
(C) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, the recording reservation information stored in the storage means is invalidated. In the recording apparatus according to claim 2, the following operation (D) is performed instead of the step (C).
(D) When the program name included in the recording reservation information stored in the storage means cannot be detected continuously a plurality of times, a confirmation display of the recording reservation content is performed.   The recording time control means operates on a predetermined N days before each scheduled recording date after the date when the recording reservation is accepted or after the previous recording date, and in (A), the program in the recording reservation information 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a name is detected from an electronic program guide for N days before and after the scheduled broadcast date.   The said detection means calculates the similarity of the program name of the said electronic program guide, and the program name in the said recording reservation information, respectively, and detects what is more than a predetermined threshold value. Recording device.

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