JP2008270962A - Digital broadcast receiving method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiving method and a device which can display images of a presently selected channel and images of other channels simultaneously without having a plurality of tuners, when a user operates a GUI to select a channel. <P>SOLUTION: An external device is connected to a digital broadcast receiving device with a digital interface 10, and first channel image data received, demodulated and decoded by the digital broadcast receiving device and second channel image data received, demodulated and decoded by the external device and then inputted through the digital interface are displayed simultaneously by a display 6 of the digital broadcast receiving device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus to which an external device having a digital broadcast receiving function can be connected, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for simultaneously displaying a program on a currently viewed channel and a program on another channel.

  One of the channel selection methods in a digital broadcast receiver is that the channel selection method using a channel number key such as a remote control or the up / down key requires time for switching to a channel desired by the user as the number of channels of the digital broadcast increases. A channel selection method is used in which a desired channel is selected from a screen displaying many channels using a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and the channel is switched.

  As such a channel selection method, for example, by creating an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) from program information superimposed on a digital broadcast signal and displaying it on the display unit of the digital broadcast receiver, There is a channel selection method that allows a user to efficiently select a desired channel. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  However, the program information superimposed on this broadcast signal is text information such as broadcast time, program name, performer name, program content introduction text, etc., and this channel selection method displays the video of the channel currently being viewed. The contents of programs on other channels that are currently being broadcast cannot be intuitively imaged with video images.

  As an improvement measure, by providing a plurality of tuners in one digital broadcast receiving device, the image of the channel currently being viewed and the image of the other channel currently being broadcast are simultaneously displayed on the display unit of the digital broadcast receiving device, There has been proposed a method in which a user can grasp the contents of programs of other channels from video images. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-111823 JP 2006-1000094 A

  The conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus has a problem that when only one tuner is installed, program contents other than the currently viewed channel can be obtained only by text information. In addition, by providing a plurality of tuners in one digital broadcast receiving apparatus, it is possible to simultaneously display the video of the channel currently being viewed and the video of other channels, but the number of tuners and related parts increases. There is a problem that the digital broadcast receiver becomes expensive.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a digital broadcast receiving method and apparatus capable of simultaneously displaying a video of a currently viewed channel and a video of another channel without providing a plurality of tuners. The purpose is to get.

A digital broadcast receiving method according to the present invention connects a digital broadcast receiving device such as a digital TV and an external device such as a tuner built-in DVD / HDD recorder having a digital broadcast receiving function through a digital interface. The first channel video data received and demodulated and decoded is displayed, and the second channel video data received and demodulated and decoded by the external device is input to the digital broadcast receiving device, thereby The video data of the channel is simultaneously displayed on the display unit of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus together with the video data of the first channel.

  The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of connecting an external device having a digital broadcast receiving function through a digital interface. An interface; a tuner unit that receives and demodulates a television broadcast signal of a first channel selected from a plurality of channels; and a video decoder unit that decodes video compression data of a program output from the tuner unit A video output control unit that synthesizes video data output from the video decoder unit and video data of a second channel selected from a plurality of channels input from an external device via a digital interface; A display unit for displaying video data output from the video output control unit. Those were example.

  In the present invention, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus having only one tuner can simultaneously display a video of a channel currently being viewed and a video of another channel. Therefore, when the user selects a channel, the content of the program on the other channel can be grasped by a video image, and a desired channel can be selected efficiently.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to Embodiment 1 for carrying out the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an external device connected to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus through a digital interface.

  A digital broadcast receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a tuner unit 2, a video decoder unit 3, a demultiplexer unit 4, an audio decoder unit 5, and video data connected to an antenna unit 1 that receives a television broadcast signal. Display unit 6 for display, video output control unit 7 for controlling output of video data, control unit 8, speaker unit 9 for outputting audio data, and digital interface for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data 10 and a key operation receiving unit 11 that receives a key code transmitted from the remote controller 12.

  2 includes a tuner unit 21, a video decoder unit 23, a demultiplexer unit 22, an audio decoder unit 25, and a control unit 24 connected to an antenna unit 20 that receives a television broadcast signal. And a digital interface 26 for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data, a hard disk 27, and a DVD 28.

In FIG. 1, a tuner unit 2 demodulates a television broadcast signal received by an antenna unit 1. The demultiplexer unit 4 separates the compressed data demodulated by the tuner unit 2 into video compressed data of the first channel, audio compressed data of the first channel, and program additional information composed of a program name, program content, and the like. To do. The video decoder unit 3 decodes the compressed video data separated by the demultiplexer unit 4 into video data, and outputs the video data to the video output control unit 7. The audio decoder unit 5 decodes the audio compression data separated by the demultiplexer unit 4 into audio data, and outputs the audio data to the speaker unit 9.

The digital interface 10 is an input / output port such as HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface: digital video / audio input / output interface standard), and outputs video and audio data output from the digital interface 26 such as an HDMI port provided in an external device. input. In addition, device control data is transmitted to and received from the digital interface 26 of the external device.

The video output control unit 7 receives the video data output from the video decoder unit 3 and the video data of the second channel television broadcast signal input from the external device via the digital interface 10 from the control unit 8. Output based on instructions. The display unit 6 displays the video data output from the video output control unit 7 as a video. The speaker unit 9 outputs the audio data output from the audio decoder unit 5 as audio. The key operation receiving unit 11 receives a key code transmitted by a user key operation on the remote controller 12, for example. The remote control 12 includes, for example, a GUI display key for starting GUI display, an up / down / left / right key for changing channel selection by the cursor 40, and a determination key. The control unit 8 includes, for example, a CPU provided with a program for performing an operation to be described later, designation of a channel selected by the tuner unit 2, control of video compression data and audio compression data separated by the demultiplexer unit 4, Generation of GUI video data, specification of video data to be output by the video output control unit 7, control of data transmission / reception in the digital interface 10, processing based on the key code received by the key operation reception unit 11 and the like are executed.

In FIG. 2, the tuner unit 21 demodulates the television broadcast signal received by the antenna unit 20. The demultiplexer unit 22 separates the compressed data demodulated by the tuner unit 21 into video compressed data of the second channel, audio compressed data of the second channel, and program additional information including a program name, program content, and the like. To do. The video decoder unit 23 decodes the compressed video data separated by the demultiplexer unit 22 into video data, and outputs the video data to the digital interface 26. The audio decoder unit 25 decodes the audio compression data separated by the demultiplexer unit 22 into audio data, and outputs the audio data to the digital interface 26.

The control unit 24 executes designation of a channel selected by the tuner unit 21, control of video compression data and audio compression data separated by the demultiplexer unit 22, control of data transmission / reception in the digital interface 26, and the like.

As an example for carrying out the present invention, FIG. 3 shows a case where the digital broadcast receiving apparatus is a digital television and the external device having a digital broadcast receiving function is a tuner built-in DVD / HDD recorder (hereinafter referred to as a recorder). An operation when the user selects a channel using the GUI will be described with reference to FIG. The GUI may be an electronic program guide, a channel list, a user-configured channel list, a back program list screen, or a screen including other selectable channels. In the following, the GUI includes a channel list screen. A case will be described as an example.

When the user presses the GUI display key of the remote controller 12 (STEP 1), the key operation receiving unit 11 of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus receives a key code representing this and transmits it to the control unit 8.

  When the control unit 8 determines that the received key code is a GUI display key, the controller 8 confirms the power state of the recorder, which is an external device, using the power state notification request command as device control data via the digital interface 10. Send to. The recorder that has received the power status notification request command notifies the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the power status (STEP 2).

The digital broadcast receiving apparatus determines the next process to be performed according to the acquired power state of the recorder (STEP 3).

When the power supply state of the recorder is a standby state, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus transmits a power-on request command as device control data to the recorder via the digital interface 10. The recorder that has received the power-on request command turns on the power state (STEP 4). After the processing of STEP4, the process returns to STEP2, and the power state of the recorder is confirmed again. Here, when data transmission / reception between the digital broadcast receiving apparatus and the recorder cannot be performed, such as when the power switch of the recorder is turned off or the recorder is not connected to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, the GUI is terminated.

  When the power state of the recorder is power on, the control unit 8 of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus generates a GUI based on the program additional information in the television broadcast signal, and issues a GUI video data and image synthesis instruction. The video is output to the video output control unit 7 (STEP 5).

  The GUI is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, and includes a channel list screen, a cursor 40 for selecting a channel, an area 41 for displaying video data of a channel currently being viewed, and a cursor 40. An area 42 for displaying video data of the selected channel is formed.

  The video output control unit 7 synthesizes and outputs the video data so that the video data of the currently viewed channel and the GUI image data are output to a predetermined area in accordance with the synthesis instruction. Data is displayed on the display unit 6 (STEP 6). At this time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the video data obtained by synthesizing the video data of the currently viewed channel and the GUI video data is displayed on the display unit 6.

  The control unit 8 detects the channel selected by the cursor 40 and acquires the channel selection information of the channel (STEP 7). The position of the cursor 40 on the screen can be moved by the user operating the remote controller 12. The channel selection information includes tuner control parameters necessary for the recorder to receive and demodulate the television broadcast signal and information (service ID) necessary for specifying the program.

  The control unit 8 transmits a channel selection request command to which channel selection information has been added as device control data to the recorder via the digital interface 10 (STEP 8).

The recorder that has received the channel selection request command receives and demodulates the television broadcast signal based on the channel selection information, starts decoding of the video compression data and the audio compression data (STEP 9), and decodes the decoded video and audio. Data is output to the digital broadcast receiver via the digital interface 26 (STEP 10).

  When video and audio data is input from the recorder to the digital broadcast receiver via the digital interface 10, the video output control unit 7 displays the video data of the channel currently being viewed by the user as shown in FIG. Video data obtained by synthesizing video data input from the recorder via the digital interface 10 and GUI video data is output (STEP 11) and displayed on the display unit 6.

  Each time the user operates the remote controller 12 to move the cursor 40, STEP7 to STEP11 are executed.

The GUI may be displayed on the entire screen of the display unit 6 or may be displayed on a part of the screen of the display unit 6. Further, when the GUI is displayed on a part of the screen of the display unit 6, the video data of the channel currently being viewed on the other part not displaying the GUI may be displayed. In this case, FIG. As described above, the area 41 for displaying the video data of the channel currently being viewed may be omitted. When a channel is selected by means other than the cursor, for example, only by key input, the cursor 40 is not necessarily displayed.

  At the end of the GUI, the control unit 8 stops receiving the television broadcast signal from the recorder, and transmits a standby state request command as device control data to the recorder via the digital interface 10 so that the recorder is Set to standby state.

  Since the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment receives the television broadcast signal of the first channel and inputs the television broadcast signal of the second channel received by the external device connected by the digital interface, the comparison is performed. The video of the first channel and the video of the second channel can be simultaneously displayed on the display unit 6 with an inexpensive configuration.

  As described above, since the video of the two channels can be displayed on the display unit 6 at the same time, when the user selects the channel by operating the GUI displayed on the display unit 6, the program of the first channel is displayed. The contents of the program of the second channel can be easily grasped while viewing and a desired channel can be selected efficiently.

In addition, power consumption can be suppressed by setting the power state of the external device to the standby state when the GUI ends.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the video data input from the external device is displayed on the display unit 6 of the digital broadcast receiving device. However, the audio data may be input from the external device and output from the speaker unit 9 of the digital broadcast receiving device. .

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, which differs from FIG. 1 in that an audio output control unit 13 is provided. Based on the audio output switching instruction transmitted from the control unit 8, the audio output control unit 13 receives the first channel audio data received and demodulated and decoded by the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, or received and demodulated by an external device. In addition, the audio data of the second channel input through the digital interface 10 is decoded and output to the speaker unit 9.

Hereinafter, an operation when the user selects a channel using the GUI will be described with reference to FIG. 7 are the same as STEP 1 to STEP 6 in FIG. 3 described above.

  In STEP 106 of FIG. 7, the control unit 8 transmits a synthesis instruction to the video output control unit 7, and then instructs selection of which audio of the first channel or the second channel is output to the speaker unit 9. An audio output switching instruction is transmitted to the audio output control unit 13. The selection of which audio is to be output is automatically determined to output the audio of the second channel when, for example, the video of the second channel is displayed on the display unit 6. Alternatively, the user may determine by a selection means such as a GUI.

  The audio output control unit 13 that has received the audio output switching instruction is selected by the first channel audio data decoded in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus or the cursor 40 based on the audio output switching instruction, and is input from an external device. The second channel audio data is output to the speaker unit 9.

  Subsequent STEP 107 to STEP 111 are the same operations as STEP 7 to STEP 11 in FIG.

The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment further includes an audio output control unit in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment, and the audio output control unit includes the audio data of the first channel or the second channel. The audio data of the channel is output to the speaker unit 9. Therefore, the content of the program of the second channel can be grasped by both video and audio.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 8 shows a GUI according to the third embodiment. 4 is different from the GUI of FIG. 4 in that selection means such as a check box for selecting whether or not to output the audio to the speaker unit 9 when displaying the video of the second channel is further provided. . When the selection content is updated by a user operation, the control unit 8 transmits an audio output switching instruction based on the selection content to the audio output control unit 13.

The audio output control unit 13 that has received the audio output switching instruction switches audio data to be output in accordance with the audio output switching instruction. That is, in FIG. 8, when “video display”, which means that only the video data of the second channel is output, is selected, the audio output control unit 13 receives the audio of the first channel input from the audio decoder 5. When “video output + audio output”, which means outputting data to the speaker unit 9 and outputting video and audio data of the second channel, is selected, audio data input from the recorder is input to the speaker unit 9. Output.

Since the third embodiment is configured as described above, when the user operates the GUI, for example, he wants to listen according to the degree of interest of the user with respect to the sound of the first channel and the sound of the second channel. Audio can be selected.

It is an example of the block diagram of the digital broadcast receiver which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an example of the block diagram of the external apparatus which has a digital broadcast receiving function which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the channel selection operation in Embodiment 1 of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the image | video of GUI. (B) is a diagram showing an image obtained by synthesizing the GUI image and the image of the channel currently being viewed. (C) is a diagram showing an image obtained by combining the GUI image, the image of the channel currently being viewed, and the image of the channel selected by the cursor. The figure which shows the example which displayed the image | video which synthesize | combined the video data of GUI and the video data of the channel selected with the cursor on a part of display part, and displayed the image | video of the channel currently viewed on the other part of a display part. It is. It is a block diagram of the digital broadcast receiver which shows Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the channel selection operation in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows GUI in Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna part 2 Tuner part 3 Video | video decoder part 4 Demultiplexer part 5 Audio | voice decoder part 6 Display part 7 Video | video output control part 8 Control part 9 Speaker part 10 Digital interface 11 Key operation receiving part 12 Remote control 20 Antenna part 21 Tuner part 22 Decoder Multiplexer unit 23 Video decoder unit 24 Control unit 25 Audio decoder unit 26 Digital interface 27 Hard disk (HDD)
28 DVD
40 Cursor 41 Area for displaying video data of channel currently being viewed 42 Area for displaying video data of channel selected by cursor 40

Claims (14)

A digital broadcast receiving device capable of connecting an external device having a digital broadcast receiving function via a digital interface for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data;
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus receiving a television broadcast signal of a first channel selected from a plurality of channels and displaying the demodulated and decoded video data;
Selecting a second channel;
Inputting video data of a second channel television broadcast signal received and demodulated and decoded by the external device from the digital interface;
And displaying the video data of the second channel together with the video data of the first channel. A digital broadcast receiving device capable of connecting an external device having a digital broadcast receiving function via a digital interface for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data;
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus receiving a television broadcast signal of a first channel selected from a plurality of channels and displaying the demodulated and decoded video data;
Selecting a second channel;
Inputting video data of a second channel television broadcast signal received and demodulated and decoded by the external device from the digital interface;
Displaying the video data of the second channel together with the video data of the first channel;
Inputting audio data of the second channel television broadcast signal received and demodulated and decoded by the external device from the digital interface;
And a step of outputting the audio data. Displaying a graphical user interface for selecting a channel when selecting a second channel;
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, demodulating, and decoding the television broadcast signal of the second channel by the external device when the second channel is selected in the graphical user interface. Or the digital broadcast receiving method of Claim 2. 4. The digital broadcast receiving method according to claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface includes a cursor for selecting a channel.   The digital user interface according to claim 3, wherein the graphical user interface is an electronic program guide, a channel list, a user-set channel list, a back program list screen, or a screen including other selectable channels. Broadcast receiving method. The graphical user interface includes a screen that allows the user to select whether to display only video data or display video data and output audio data for the second channel selected by the cursor. ,
If it is selected to display only video data, the first channel audio data is output. If it is selected to display video data and output audio data, the second channel audio is selected. 4. The digital broadcast receiving method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of outputting data. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: stopping reception of a television broadcast signal of the second channel from the external device and putting the external device into a standby state when the graphical user interface ends. 5. Digital broadcasting reception method. In a digital broadcast receiver capable of connecting an external device having a digital broadcast reception function,
A digital interface for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data;
A tuner for receiving and demodulating a television broadcast signal of a first channel selected from a plurality of channels;
A video decoder unit for decoding video compressed data of a program output from the tuner unit;
A video output control unit that synthesizes video data output from the video decoder unit and video data of a second channel selected from the plurality of channels input from the external device via the digital interface; ,
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays video data output from the video output control unit. In a digital broadcast receiver capable of connecting an external device having a digital broadcast reception function,
A digital interface for transmitting and receiving video data, audio data, and device control data;
A tuner for receiving and demodulating a television broadcast signal of a first channel selected from a plurality of channels;
A video decoder unit for decoding video compressed data of a program output from the tuner unit;
A video output control unit that synthesizes video data output from the video decoder unit and video data of a second channel selected from the plurality of channels input from the external device via the digital interface; ,
A display unit for displaying video data output from the video output control unit;
An audio decoder unit for decoding audio compression data of a program output from the tuner unit;
An audio output control unit that performs output control of audio data of the first channel output from the audio decoder unit and audio data of the second channel input via the digital interface;
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a speaker unit that outputs audio data output from the audio output control unit. When a graphical user interface for selecting a channel is displayed on the display unit and the second channel is selected in the graphical user interface,
Transmitting the channel selection information of the second channel as device control data to the external device via the digital interface;
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the external device receives, demodulates and decodes the television broadcast signal of the second channel based on the channel selection information.   The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the graphical user interface includes a cursor for selecting a channel. The digital user interface according to claim 10, wherein the graphical user interface is an electronic program guide, a channel list, a channel list by user setting, a screen of a back program list, or a screen including other selectable channels. Broadcast receiving device. The graphical user interface includes a screen that allows the user to select whether to display only video data or display video data and output audio data for the second channel selected by the cursor. ,
When it is selected to display only video data, the audio output control unit outputs audio data of the first channel, and when it is selected to display video data and output audio data, audio is output. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the output control unit outputs the audio data of the second channel.   11. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein at the end of the graphical user interface, reception of the television broadcast signal of the second channel from the external device is stopped and the external device is set in a standby state.

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