JP3369083B2 - Karaoke playback device and system using two media: communication and broadcasting - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a music / video-separated karaoke system in which an accompaniment sound of a karaoke song is output from a speaker and, at the same time, lyrics of the song are displayed on a display together with an appropriate background image in accordance with the progress of the accompaniment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a karaoke reproducing apparatus and system using both a communication medium such as a telephone network and a broadcasting medium such as digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting.

[0002]

As is well known, a communication karaoke system is a large-scale computer network in which a large number of karaoke terminals widely arranged on a nationwide scale and a host device operated by a business operator are connected by a communication line. It is also a multimedia system that handles voice information, character image information, or moving image information. Therefore, by utilizing the bidirectionality of communication lines, not only is new song software supplied quickly, but various application functions that utilize network resources have also been realized. For example, the online karaoke company collects the operation record of each terminal device through the host device, inspects the function of each terminal device, remotely controls individual terminal devices based on the operation record and contract contents, etc. We have realized an operation system and maintenance management system that are directly connected to the karaoke business.

On the other hand, from the viewpoint of providing karaoke music, the most popular communication karaoke system of recent years is the music / video separation type, as is well known. In other words, a system for accumulating and reproducing karaoke data including information about accompaniment sounds and lyrics of karaoke songs and synchronization information between the two, and a system for accumulating and reproducing video data that is the background of lyrics display. Is different. When playing a requested song, an image that matches the tone and mood of the song is selected and displayed on the display.

A certain image does not correspond to a particular music piece, but a large number of images are classified according to the musical genre such as enka, pop, and rock. For example, when playing a song classified in the "Enka" genre,
One piece of video data appropriately selected from a plurality of images belonging to the "Enka" genre is reproduced. Alternatively, a large number of short-time video data belonging to the "Enka" genre are randomly selected, connected, and reproduced. In other words, a considerably small amount of video data is appropriately shared with respect to the number of songs, so that new songs that are produced one after another can be easily dealt with and the burden of producing video software is reduced.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Like the enjoyment of music videos and background videos, watching the images displayed in the background of lyrics is also a major element of enjoyment of karaoke. In an expensive and very large karaoke reproducing apparatus using an optical disc in which a music piece and a background image are recorded in a one-to-one correspondence, when a certain music piece is reproduced, a specific image produced in accordance with the music piece is surely produced. Is played. On the other hand, in the case of the music / video separation type karaoke reproducing apparatus, even if the same music is reproduced, different videos are reproduced at different times. The latter can enjoy various background images for regular karaoke players, and this can be regarded as an advantage of the music / image separation type.

However, in the conventional communication karaoke system,
By separating songs / videos, it is intended to reduce the production load of video software and to reduce the image storage / playback system in the karaoke playback terminal so that new trendy songs can be sung immediately. While the evaluation in terms of this is extremely high, the evaluation of the richness and entertainment of the background video software is low. For example, to a young regular customer who often sings new pop songs, it is easy to get tired of knowing that the same video group is randomly combined and repeatedly output.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its object is to utilize digital multi-channel broadcasting in addition to the advantages of a communication karaoke system using a communication medium such as a telephone network. It is to dramatically improve the entertainment and fulfillment of video services.

[0008]

The karaoke reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is specified by the following items (1) to (10). (1) A communication unit, a broadcast receiving unit, a karaoke data storage unit, a video storage unit, a sound output unit, a video output unit, and a control unit. (2) The communication means performs bidirectional data communication with the host device via the communication medium. (3) The broadcast receiving means receives digital multi-channel broadcast. (4) The karaoke data storage means stores the karaoke data received by the communication means from the host device. (5) The video storage means stores the video with audio having the specific identification information received by the broadcast receiving means from the specific channel. (6) The acoustic output means acoustically outputs the audio signal. (7) The video output means outputs the video signal as a video. (8) The control means reads the karaoke data of the requested music from the karaoke data storage means, outputs the accompaniment music and the lyrics image based on the karaoke data by the sound output means and the video output means, and attaches to the karaoke data. The image that is being broadcast on the channel corresponding to the background selector is received by the broadcast receiving means and output as the background of the lyrics image. (9) While the karaoke data is not being reproduced, the control means checks the musical piece genre information of the requested musical piece played in the immediately preceding period, and identifies the musical piece genre that is the mainstream of the request. A video with audio accompanied by information is read from the video storage means and output by the sound output means and the video output means. (10) The control means transmits terminal information including operation records such as a music selection history when communicating with the host device by the communication means. The karaoke data received by the broadcast receiving means may be stored in the karaoke data storage means.

The karaoke reproducing system according to the present invention is
A joint reception facility including a plurality of receivers for receiving different channels of digital multi-channel broadcasting is provided,
As an alternative to the broadcast receiving means in the karaoke reproducing apparatus configured as described above, the system is constituted by a large number of karaoke reproducing apparatuses using this shared reception facility. This configuration is a rational system in which a shared reception facility for digital multi-channel broadcasting is shared by many karaoke reproducing devices. In other words, a joint reception facility including a plurality of receivers for receiving different channels of digital multi-channel broadcasting is provided, and the image of each channel received by this facility is distributed to a large number of karaoke playback devices, and each karaoke playback device is distributed. The background processing means is configured to select an image of an arbitrary channel.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a karaoke reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a main control unit 1 is a computer main body centered on a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and a data storage unit 2 is a large-capacity auxiliary storage. Specifically, a hard disk device is used. The human interface 3 is an input / output unit that is operated by the user to input various commands to the device and displays the response of the device to the user, such as an operation panel of the device body or a remote control input device. including.

The data storage unit 2 stores karaoke data of many songs. Karaoke data is, for example, M
It is data in which lyrics data is combined with IDI-encoded accompaniment sound data, and synchronization information of both data is also included.
The karaoke data of each music has a music number as an identifier, and the music number is accompanied by a music genre number corresponding to the background selector described above.

The above-mentioned karaoke data is timely distributed from the software distribution center operated by the karaoke provider through the telephone network. In order to receive this distribution, the main control unit 1
Is connected to the telephone network via the communication interface 11. Communicate with the center according to a predetermined sequence,
The karaoke data of the newly provided music is received and stored in the data storage unit 2.

Further, this reproducing device not only receives karaoke data from the software distribution center but also exchanges various data with the host device of the software distribution center by taking advantage of the two-way communication. For example, in response to a request from the host device, terminal information data including operation records such as operating time and song selection history are transmitted to the host device via the telephone network, and the host device functions of each reproducing device. This includes performing inspections and remotely controlling individual playback devices based on operation records and contract details.

In this embodiment, a configuration is shown in which data transmission / reception between each reproduction device and the software distribution center, such as distribution of karaoke data and collection of operation records of each reproduction device, is performed via the telephone network. However, such a data transmission / reception may be performed through a satellite communication line. In this case, each reproducing device is equipped with a satellite communication transmitting / receiving facility, receives karaoke data transmitted from the software distribution center via the satellite communication line, stores the karaoke data in the data storage unit 2, and stores data such as operation records. Send to software distribution center via satellite communication line.

When reproducing and outputting a requested music piece, the main control section 1 accesses the data storage section 2 to read the karaoke data of the music piece, and the accompaniment sound processing section 4 generates an audio signal of an accompaniment sound. Input to the mixing amplifier 5. In the amplifier 5, the signal from the microphone 6 and the accompaniment sound are mixed and amplified, and the speaker 7 produces a sound. In synchronization with this processing, the main control unit 1 together with the lyrics image processing unit 8 sequentially processes the lyrics data accompanying the accompaniment sound data, and displays an image of the lyrics character string in synchronization with the reproduction timing of the accompaniment sound. It is displayed on a display 10 such as a CRT via the control unit 9. A background image is displayed on the display 10 as described below.

The karaoke reproducing apparatus of this embodiment includes a receiver 12 and an antenna 13 for digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting. Also in this example,
The karaoke provider broadcasts a background image during karaoke playback continuously for 24 hours by using predetermined 10 channels of digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting. These 10 channels will be called karaoke video channels.

Each piece of music handled by this device system is classified into 10 types according to its tone and atmosphere, and the classification is the above-mentioned tone genre number. The 10 karaoke video channels provided by digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting are associated with 10 kinds of musical tone genre numbers, and the images selected to be suitable for the musical tone and atmosphere of each genre are 24 channels on each channel. Broadcast continuously for hours. In the same channel, for example, videos of short scenes are randomly connected and output.

The channel selector 12a of the receiver 12 is controlled by the background control unit 14 to determine the reception channel. The background control unit 14 follows the instructions of the main control unit 1. When reproducing and outputting the karaoke data of a certain music stored in the data storage unit 2 as described above, the main control unit 1 picks up the musical tone genre number attached to the karaoke data of the music and the background control unit. Pass it to 14. The background control unit 14 switches and controls the channel selector 12a in accordance with the received musical tone genre number to select the karaoke video channel corresponding to the musical tone genre number. The received video of that channel is supplied to the display control unit 9 and displayed on the display 10 as the background of the character string of the lyrics from the lyrics image processing unit 8.

In the above embodiment, the karaoke data is distributed to the karaoke reproducing apparatus through a communication medium such as a telephone network. However, the karaoke data is a channel for the digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting. The karaoke data may be stored in the data storage unit 2 after being broadcast by the reproducing apparatus. In such a configuration, a communication medium such as a telephone network or a satellite communication line is separately used to return the terminal information data such as the operation record of the karaoke reproducing device to the host device.

In the above embodiments, the background control section 14 has been described to perform control in which the musical tone genre number and the karaoke video channel are associated with each other in a one-to-one correspondence. The present invention is not limited to the simple control as in this example, and various application examples can be considered as follows.

(A) During a temporary rest period during which a karaoke piece is not reproduced, a received image of an appropriate channel is displayed on the display 10 according to a predetermined algorithm. Audio is attached to the video in this case, and the received audio channel signal is produced by the speaker 7 via the mixing amplifier 5.

(B) The tone genre number of the music to be reproduced is ignored, the channel is selected according to the information input from the human interface 3, and the received image is displayed on the display 10.

(C) Corresponding a plurality of channels to one musical tone genre number and displaying the received video on the display 10 while appropriately switching the video of the corresponding multiple channels during reproduction of the karaoke music.

The embodiment of FIG. 1 also has the following functions. A video storage unit 15 is attached to the background control unit 12. The background control unit 12 operates according to a command from the main control unit 1 and receives from the receiver 12 an image with sound that meets a specific condition from the digital multi-channel satellite television broadcast.
Control for selectively receiving and storing in the video storage unit 15,
Under specific circumstances, the video information stored in the video storage unit 15 is read out and displayed on the display 10 via the display control unit 9 .

Using this function, the following operation is performed, for example. A promotional video (with audio) that introduces new songs by various musicians on a specific channel of digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting at a specific time.
Also, it broadcasts video for advertisement advertisement (with audio) of karaoke providers. This kind of advertisement video is a video divided into lengths of several tens of seconds to several minutes, and information for identifying the contents is attached to each of them, and the main control unit 1 or the background control unit 14 The identification information can be discriminated. Based on this identification information and the like, when the advertising video is broadcast by digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting, the receiver 12 in the karaoke reproducing apparatus of FIG. Store it. And
During a temporary rest period during which a karaoke piece is not reproduced, the advertisement video (with audio) stored in the video storage unit 15 is read and displayed on the display 10 (audio is output from the speaker 7).

Further, in the above case, a plurality of different advertisement videos can be stored in the video storage unit 15, and any one of the many unit videos can be selectively read out and reproduced based on the above-mentioned identification information. It should be possible to output.
Then, when the video stored in the video storage unit 15 is reproduced when the reproduction of the karaoke song is stopped, the tune genre number of the karaoke song that was selected and played in the immediately preceding period is checked to become the main request. Select the type of video for advertising that suits the tune genre. In other words, if there are many requests for pop songs, select and play the video for advertising for pop fans, and if there are many requests for enka songs, advertise for enka fans. Select a video for playback and play it.

Next, a system composed of a large number of karaoke reproducing apparatuses and joint reception equipment will be described. In this case, as the shared reception equipment, 10 receivers for receiving 10 karaoke video channels respectively are provided, and the video signals received by these are multiplexed in the same manner as a normal cable television, and the multiplexed signal is obtained. Is sent to a large number of karaoke playback devices via a cable. Each karaoke reproducing device is equipped with a receiver similar to a normal cable television, and can receive video signals for 10 channels. Which of the 10 channels is selected and displayed may be the same as the control by the background control unit 14 described above. The total cost of this system is significantly reduced as compared with the case where a receiver for digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting is provided individually.

[0033]

According to the present invention, in addition to the advantage of online karaoke that karaoke data of new songs created one after another is quickly delivered to a large number of users by using a communication medium, a wide variety of karaokes are created one after another. Such video can be delivered to a large number of users in real time by using a broadcasting medium, and can be appropriately combined and displayed as a background video when playing a karaoke song. You won't get tired of regular customers immediately because the same image appears over and over again as in the past. Images of the latest sports scenes that are full of news, images of trailers for newly distributed movies, images that seem to have been lost during the production of various video works such as music videos and background videos, etc. , You can effectively use a large amount of various video produced for karaoke,
Karaoke is more entertaining.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a karaoke reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 main control unit 2 data storage unit 3 human interface 4 accompaniment sound processing unit 5 mixing amplifier 6 microphone 7 speaker 8 lyrics image processing unit 9 display control unit 10 display 11 communication interface 12 digital multi-channel satellite television receiver 12a channel Selector 13 Digital multi-channel satellite television broadcasting antenna 14 Background control unit 15 Video storage unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-98596 (JP, A) JP-A-7-281681 (JP, A) JP-A-8-204659 (JP, A) JP-A-9- 130346 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G10K 15/04 302 G09F 27/00 G09G 5/00 510 H04M 11/08 H04N 5/445

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication means, a broadcast receiving means, a karaoke data storage means, a video storage means, an audio output means, a video output means, and a control means, the communication means bidirectional data with a host device via a communication medium. Communication is performed, the broadcast receiving means receives digital multi-channel broadcast, the karaoke data storage means stores the karaoke data received by the communication means from the host device, and the video storage means is received by the broadcast receiving means from a specific channel. The audio output means stores the audio signal, the audio output means outputs the audio signal, the video output means outputs the video signal, and the control means karaokes the karaoke data of the requested music. The data is read from the data storage means, and the accompaniment music and the lyrics image are output by the sound output means and the video output means based on the karaoke data. In addition, while the video being broadcast on the channel corresponding to the background selector attached to the karaoke data is received by the broadcast receiving means and output as the background of the lyrics image, during the period when the karaoke data is not reproduced, By checking the tone style genre information of the requested song played in the immediately preceding period, a video with sound accompanied by identification information suitable for the tone style that was the mainstream of the request is read from the video storage means, and the sound output means and the video output A karaoke reproducing device that outputs terminal information including operation records such as a music selection history when the device outputs the information and the communication device communicates with the host device. 2. The karaoke reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the karaoke data storage means stores the karaoke data received by the broadcast receiving means. 3. Joint reception equipment including a plurality of receivers for respectively receiving different channels of digital multi-channel broadcasting is provided, and the joint reception equipment is substituted for the broadcasting reception means in the karaoke reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. A karaoke playback system configured by a number of karaoke playback devices that utilize