JP3777282B2 - Up / down channel selection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention constitutes a high-definition program for channel selection of digital television broadcasts including high-definition programs such as satellite digital (BS digital) television broadcasts or terrestrial digital television broadcasts scheduled to start broadcasting in the future. The present invention relates to an up / down channel selection device that integrates a plurality of channels and processes them as a single channel, thereby simplifying the channel selection operation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Television broadcasts that are generally broadcast at present are broadly divided into terrestrial analog broadcasts and satellite broadcasts, and satellite broadcasts are further divided into satellite analog television broadcasts (BS broadcasts) and satellite digital television broadcasts ( CS broadcasting). Of these, some terrestrial analog broadcast channels transmit electronic program guide (EPG) information as data information in addition to normal television signals such as video and audio, and the receiving side demodulates this data information. Thus, a method of reproducing the EPG screen on the screen of the receiver is also employed.
[0003]
In CS broadcasting, service identification (SI) signals such as various service names and addresses, time data, program classifications, program numbers, and program names are transmitted along with video / audio signals on the transmission side, and these SIs are transmitted on the reception side. First select the desired channel by specifying the service ID from the signal, then select the program information based on the event ID assigned to each program unit in this channel, and display the EPG on the screen of the receiver It is possible to make it.
[0004]
In order to select a desired channel by receiving such a television signal, the channel can be selected by directly selecting a preset channel or by directly inputting the desired channel number from the numeric keys. Channel selection is performed by up / down channel selection in which the channels are sequentially switched in the order of stations and channel numbers, and further by cursor setting from the EPG display screen.
[0005]
However, these television broadcasts are operated as a channel unit for each broadcasting station, and for this reason, all channel selections are configured to be switched on a channel basis. For this reason, when performing up / down channel selection, as shown in FIG. 8, a method is adopted in which channel selection is performed while increasing or decreasing the channel number from the lowest or highest channel number for each channel. ing.
[0006]
By the way, in Japan, BS digital television broadcasting is scheduled to start in 2000, but this BS digital television broadcasting uses a trellis-encoded 8-phase PSK modulation and expands its bandwidth to increase transmission capacity. Flexibility, such as expansion, enabling transmission of multiple MPEG-transport streams (TS) using a single BS channel, and selection of transmission methods according to service contents In addition, it is a system with expandability, and is expected as a next-generation broadcasting system centering on digital high-definition (HDTV) broadcasting.
[0007]
In the broadcasting system currently under study, in order to divide each continuous digital signal of compressed video / audio / data into blocks of a certain length, to identify programs and to display time etc. The header information is added and multiplexed for each divided block, and a plurality of programs are transmitted through one transmission channel.
[0008]
This multiplexing technique employs a method that complies with the MPEG-2 standard, and divides each encoded digital signal into frame units, for example, and adds header information indicating display time and the like. The packet is further divided into signals of a certain length to form a packet, header information indicating the signal type is added to this packet, and a packet of 188 bytes length with this header information added is transport stream. It is called a packet (TSP), and many video, audio, and data TSPs are bundled in a time-division multiplexed manner and are called TS. On the receiving side, the data contents are identified by the TSP header information and the same. Will be played continuously.
[0009]
In digital television broadcasting using this MPEG-2 multiplexing system, TS corresponds to a transmission channel, and each program is divided and multiplexed as TSP. Therefore, the TSP suitable for the purpose is selected on the receiving side. Thus, the same program is selected and reproduced from the header information attached to the desired TSP from a plurality of programs.
[0010]
One of the features of such BS digital television broadcasting is HDTV broadcasting. This HDTV operation requires a bandwidth that is approximately three times the bandwidth used in digital standard television (SDTV) broadcasting. In the BS digital television broadcasting system, a business operator (broadcast station) can select a plurality of modulation systems in one repeater, and the minimum unit is called a slot. When the operator operates HDTV broadcasting, 20 slots are used and 2 slots are used for sending header information such as SI information. On the other hand, when SDTV broadcasting is operated, it is operated using 6 slots.
[0011]
Channel assignment to BS digital television broadcasting authorized operators is restricted to 1 channel / 1 SDTV or 1 channel / 1 HDTV, and when an operator with 1 channel / 1 SDTV assignment operates HDTV, HDTV uses SDTV. Therefore, the HDTV channel is integrated with the three SDTV channels.
[0012]
In other words, if the channels for SDTV assigned to the carrier B are 100CH, 101CH, and 102CH, a dedicated channel for HDTV is not newly assigned during HDTV broadcasting, but only 100CH, 101CH, and 102CH are used. The HDTV having the same content is operated.
[0013]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
This operational state is easy to understand, and will be described with reference to FIG. 9. Now, the broadcaster B (B station) performs HDTV broadcast for 30 minutes from “00” using the channels 100 to 102 for SDTV. In this case, even if each channel 100CH, 101CH, and 102CH of each channel engaged in HDTV broadcasting is selected, the same program is reproduced. Therefore, when up / down channel selection is performed, as shown in FIG. 10, the channels involved in this HDTV broadcast are sequentially selected from 100CH to 102CH, or from 102CH to 100CH. Is repeatedly selected and displayed, and it is assumed that not only is it bothersome but also an unpleasant impression.
[0014]
The present invention has been made to cope with such a point. When it is recognized as an SDTV broadcast, the channel selection is performed for each channel, and when it is recognized as an HDTV broadcast, the HDTV broadcast is selected. By integrating the independent channels for SDTV broadcasting involved in broadcasting and processing them as one channel, and selecting up / down channel selection, the same content HDTV channel is selected as a unit, and other configuration channels are skipped. In this way, the channel selection operation of the same channel is released, and when selecting an HDTV broadcast, the actual channel selected from the multiple channels involved in HDTV broadcast is displayed in a different form from the display of other channels. / To provide a down channel selection device.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is mixed in the HDTV programs and standard programs in the receiving channel, HDTV programs multiple utilize channels are broadcast and service information for the standard program is pressurized with, the digital television broadcast signal up / a down channel selecting device, a tuner section for receiving the digital television broadcast signal, and tuning means capable of station-up / down selection of the desired channel by controlling the tuner unit, the channel selection The service information is separated from the digital television signal selected by the means, and based on this service information, it is determined whether the corresponding program is a high-definition program or a standard program. Multiple channels are combined and processed as a single channel, and the program is determined to be a standard program Expediently, a processing means for processing each channel of the corresponding standard program as an independent channel, when selecting a HDTV programs in the tuning means, all channel display of a plurality of channels corresponding to the HDTV program And a channel display means for displaying the selected real channel in a form different from the display of other channels among the plurality of channels. In the channel selection means, the plurality of broadcast channels of the high-definition program are simply displayed. An up / down channel selection apparatus that performs an up / down channel selection operation as one channel.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram showing a configuration of an up / down channel selection apparatus according to the present invention. A BS digital broadcast signal received by a parabolic antenna 11 is down-converted and supplied to a tuner 12. On the other hand, in the case of a direct channel selection operation to select a desired transmission channel from the remote controller 13 selected by the viewer, the channel number of the channel is selected, and this channel data is sent from the remote controller 13 to the microcomputer. And the control circuit 14 having a memory and the like. The channel data received by the control circuit 14 is processed by the microcomputer and the data is decoded.
[0019]
As a result, if it is a direct channel selection signal, it is supplied to the tuner 12, and a desired transmission channel is selected and demodulated by the tuner 12, and this demodulated digital signal sequence is error-corrected by the error correction circuit 15. If there is, the error is corrected and supplied to the scramble control circuit 16. The scrambled signal such as a pay broadcast by the scramble control circuit 16 is scrambled and returned to the original signal and supplied to the multiplexed data separation circuit 17.
[0020]
The multiplexed data separation circuit 17 separates the audio signal, the video signal, and the SI signal, and the audio signal is supplied to the MPEG audio reproduction circuit 18 and decoded into a digital signal before compression, and if necessary converted into an analog signal. Later, it is supplied to a television receiver 19 having display means such as a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal, a plasma display, and the video signal is similarly decoded by the MPEG video reproduction circuit 20 into a digital signal before compression.
[0021]
On the output side of the MPEG video reproduction circuit 20, an on-screen display (OSD) circuit 21 is connected. The OSD circuit 21 receives an SI signal from the multiple data separation circuit 17 and receives an OSD from the control circuit 14. The data signal is switched to or superimposed on the signal from the video reproduction circuit 20 and supplied to the television receiver 19.
[0022]
In addition to selecting a transmission channel from the remote controller 13 as described above, the control circuit 14 processes the SI signal from the multiplexed data separation circuit 17 and supplies the OSD data to the OSD circuit 21, as well as the remote controller 13. The selection signal is supplied to the multiplexed data separation circuit 17 by setting / selecting the above. This selection signal is used to select a desired program from a transmission channel through which a large number of programs are multiplexed and transmitted, whereby the audio signal and video signal of the desired program are converted into MPEG audio reproduction circuit 18 and MPEG video. This is supplied to the reproduction circuit 20.
[0023]
In addition, when up / down tuning is performed by the up / down tuning operation of the remote controller 13, the up / down tuning signal is sent to the control circuit 14 for processing and sent to the tuner 12 or the multiplexed data separation circuit 17. Then, the received channels are tuned in the direction of sequentially up or down, and up / down tuning is performed.
[0024]
Further, when EPG display is performed, when the EPG display is selected by operating the remote controller 13, the EPG is displayed on the screen of the television receiver 19 by operating the OSD circuit 21 with the OSD data from the control circuit 14. Is done. When selecting a program using the cursor using this EPG screen, the cursor displayed on the screen is moved by operating the up / down / left / right designation keys of the remote controller 13 to set the desired program. By designating, it is possible to select a desired channel (program).
[0025]
By the way, this up / down channel selection operation is performed by the processing of the microcomputer software of the control circuit 14 shown in FIG. 2, and the up / down channel selection operation is performed according to the result of this processing. That is, when the up / down key operation of the remote controller 13 is performed in step S1, whether or not the currently received channel is HDTV is confirmed from the information from the SI signal in step S2.
[0026]
If it is determined as HDTV, processing for integrating all channels involved in HDTV is performed in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S4. If it is determined in step S2 that it is not HDTV, that is, it is determined as SDTV, the process proceeds to step S4. .
[0027]
In step S4, the state of the channel to be up or down is determined. It is determined whether or not the next channel to be switched by up or down channel selection is HDTV. If it is an HDTV program, HDTV is selected in step S5. If it is determined that the channel is not HDTV, SDTV channel selection is performed. Perform the action.
[0028]
Then, after performing the HDTV channel selection, the channel up / down instruction is confirmed in step S6, and in the case of the channel up instruction, the first channel in the plurality of channels integrated in step S7, that is, one channel is selected. Select the first channel with the smallest number. If it is determined in step S6 that the channel is down, the last channel in the plurality of integrated channels, that is, the channel with the largest channel number is selected.
[0029]
In the case of this HDTV channel selection, the channel is always fixed in any case of up / down without switching to the first or last channel based on the channel up / down instruction as in the above embodiment. For example, it is possible to configure so that only the first channel is always selected.
[0030]
The outline of channel up / down channel selection processed in this way will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, the channel is started from 100CH, followed by 101CH and 102CH, then continued from 120CH to the upper channel, and the last channel is 999CH. In addition, HDTV broadcast is being performed on 100CH, 101CH, and 102CH. When up or down channel selection is performed, these 100CH to 102CH are integrated and handled as one channel. In the case of FIG. 3, the first 100CH is always selected.
[0031]
Therefore, when the channel is increased from 999CH, the channels are selected as 100CH and 120CH. Conversely, when the channel down is selected from 120CH, the channel is changed from 100CH to 999CH. Actually, the three channels 100CH to 102CH are integrated so that 101CH and 102CH are skipped, and channel selection processing is performed as if one channel of 100CH.
[0032]
By performing up / down channel selection in this way, three independent channels for SDTV having the same contents engaged in HDTV are not selected redundantly. In this case, the viewer can select one of the three channels. However, there is a possibility that you may feel uneasy because you do not know which channel you are selecting.
[0033]
For this purpose, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the data of the channel numbers of all channels integrated in the reproduction display screen are supplied from the control circuit 14 to the OSD circuit 21 to be displayed on the screen, and If the actual channel selected for the channel is displayed in capital letters, etc., the state of integration processing becomes clear at a glance, and there is no sense of anxiety.
[0034]
Furthermore, when the user wants to continue watching the SDTV broadcast after the currently received HDTV program is finished, there are cases where the channel does not continue in the preset actual channel, so three channel displays are shown in FIG. In this way, each channel is divided and displayed, and the divided channels are set so that the cursor movement instruction from the remote controller 13 or the left / right key or cyclic can be switched, and the actual channel can be switched. If it is configured so that it can be adapted to the scheduled viewing channel in the next time zone, the scheduled viewing program will not be missed.
[0035]
Furthermore, with further improvements, a few minutes before the end of the broadcast time of the HDTV currently being viewed, for example 3 minutes before (this time setting can be freely set at the time of design) is shown in FIG. Subsequent programs of such integrated channels are displayed on the screen of the HDTV currently being received for each channel by using the OSD circuit 21 in the same manner as the channel number display, thereby enabling the next SDTV broadcast. Process so that the program can be confirmed.
[0036]
In this way, if the subsequent program of each integrated channel is displayed, it is possible to increase the effect of preventing forgetting to see, and furthermore, as shown in FIG. If the configuration is such that a desired channel is reserved by selecting a key on the remote controller 13, after the HDTV broadcast ends, the program is automatically switched to the next program to be viewed, that is, the channel, and the program to be viewed is received. can do.
[0037]
If the receiver is configured to enable multi-segment screen display, the next time zone program display is displayed on a screen portion that does not receive and display HDTV broadcasts, or HDTV is displayed on the parent screen. It is also possible to display a picture-in-picture (PIP) displayed on a sub-screen in the screen, or a method such as superimpose on the lower part of the screen.
[0038]
In addition to these, the present invention can be variously applied and modified. For example, digital television broadcasting can be applied to cable television broadcasting, and compression transmission methods other than MPEG are used for compression transmission methods. It can also be applied to the case of adopting the method, and in order to display the actual channel of the channel after integration processing, it is different from other channel display by coloring, bolding, shading, shape change etc. Obviously, it may be displayed in form and is not limited to the embodiments described above .
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when it is determined that SDTV broadcasting is performed using SI information, channel selection is performed for each channel, and when it is determined that HDTV is selected, a plurality of SDTV channels that perform HDTV are integrated. It is possible to provide an up / down channel selection device that eliminates the troublesomeness of confirming the same screen content that is unnecessary and quick channel selection operation by handling as one program and performing up / down channel selection. it can.
[0040]
Also, if the integrated channel number can be displayed on the screen, it can be determined that the channel has been skipped, and the HDTV broadcast screen can be seen at a glance. There are also benefits. In addition, by displaying the program name of each integrated channel in the next time zone before the end of HDTV broadcasting, even if the program currently being received ends, the program content can be easily confirmed, and further reservations are made. If the function is incorporated, it is possible to automatically shift to the reception of the next program, and it is possible to provide an up / down channel selection device that is excellent in handling operation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a circuit configuration diagram for explaining an up / down channel selection apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the up / down channel selection apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a channel selection operation state of the up / down channel selection device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of integrated channels of the up / down channel selection device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example that enables channel selection between channels integrated by the up / down channel selection device according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a program display example in the subsequent time zone of the integrated channel of the up / down channel selection device according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example for program reservation in the subsequent time zone of the up / down channel selection device according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a channel selection state of the current up / down channel selection device.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an HDTV broadcast mode in BS digital television broadcast.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an up / down channel selection operation state.
[Explanation of symbols]
12: Tuner 13: Remote control 14: Control circuit 17: Multiplex data separation circuit 19: Television receiver 20: MPEG video reproduction circuit 21: OSD circuit

Claims (4)

A digital television broadcast signal up / down channel selection device in which high-definition programs and standard programs are mixed in reception channels, and high-definition programs are broadcast using a plurality of channels for standard programs and service information is added. There,
A tuner unit for receiving the digital television signal;
Channel selection means capable of controlling the tuner unit to select a desired channel up / down;
Service information is separated from the digital television signal selected by the channel selection means, and based on this service information, it is determined whether the corresponding program is a high-definition program or a standard program. A plurality of the corresponding channels are integrated and processed as a single channel, and when the corresponding program is determined to be a standard program, processing means for processing each channel of the corresponding standard program as an independent channel;
When a high-definition program is selected by the channel selection means, all channels of a plurality of channels corresponding to the high-definition program are displayed, and the selected actual channel is displayed as another channel among the plurality of channels. And a channel display means for displaying in a different form,
The channel selection means performs an up / down channel selection operation using a plurality of high-definition program broadcast channels as a single channel.   The channel selection means selects the first independent channel in the channel selection direction in the plurality of channels processed as the single channel by the processing means, skips the other independent channels, and the channel display means 2. The up / down channel selection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first independent channel is displayed in a form different from the display of other independent channels.   The channel selection means always selects a specific independent channel among a plurality of channels processed as the single channel by the processing means and skips other independent channels, and the channel display means displays the specific independent channel. 2. The up / down channel selection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the channel is displayed in a form different from the display of other independent channels.   2. The up / down channel selection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the channel selection means enables the actual channel to be changed by a user operation when a high-definition program is selected.

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