JPH1169254A - Information processor, its method and transmission medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more speedily and surely select a desired program by storing which of EPG(electronic program guide) and a program a viewed content immediately prior to the turning-off of a power source is at the time of the turning-off of the power source and displaying EPG or a prescribed program as an initial picture corresponding to the stored viewed content when the power source is turned off. SOLUTION: Whenever the power source of a receiver 1 is turned off, contents viewed just before it are stored in a hard disk 22. When the power source is turned on, a CPU 16 discriminates whether the viewed contents stored when the power source is turned off last are EPGs or not to display the program guide of EPG on a monitor 5 at the time of EPG but to display a recommending program, a program in the category of the viewed program or the program guide of EPG on the monitor 5 when it is of not EPG. The initial picture of the receiver 1 is displayed in this way but user can set the priority order of the initial picture, as well.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a transmission medium, and more particularly, to a method of displaying an initial image in response to a viewing content stored when a power supply is turned off, thereby enabling a quick display. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a transmission medium that allow a desired program to be selected reliably.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the number of channels has become 100 or more, such as digital broadcasting and cable television. When the number of channels increases, it becomes difficult to select a desired program from programs on a large number of channels. Therefore, in order to support program selection from program providers, EPG (Electrical Program
ide: electronic program guide). FIG. 16 shows a display example of such an EPG program selection screen. In this example, a reduced image showing the contents of a program is displayed on a small screen divided into 4 × 4.

FIG. 17 shows a configuration example of a remote controller used when such a program is selected. In this example, a number button and a cursor button are provided. When the number of channels increases, it becomes difficult to select a program by using the number buttons. Therefore, usually, a program is selected using a cursor button on a program selection screen as shown in FIG. By operating this cursor button, the user can move the cursor up, down, left, and right. Then, by positioning the cursor on the reduced image of the desired program and operating the enter button, the program can be selected.

FIG. 18 shows another display example of the EPG program selection screen. In this example, six channels are displayed as a channel list, and each channel is broadcasted (broadcast).
Is displayed as a program table for each time zone. As in the case shown in FIG. 16, the user operates the cursor button of the remote controller, positions the cursor on a desired program, and operates the enter button to select the program.

[0005]

However, such a conventional EPG does not leave the area as a program column defined by a channel and a broadcast time as described in newspapers and program information magazines. It cannot support providing each program to each user more effectively. Therefore, there is a problem that the selection of a program becomes complicated and a desired program cannot be quickly selected.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to more quickly and surely select a desired program.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: a storage means for storing, when a power supply is turned off, whether an immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program; Is turned on, and display control means for displaying an EPG or a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to the viewing content stored in the storage means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method, when the power is turned off, a storage step for storing whether the immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program, and when the power is turned on, A display control step of displaying an EPG or a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to the viewing content stored in the storage step.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the transmission medium, when the power is turned off, a storage step for storing whether the immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program, and when the power is turned on, A program having an EPG or a display control step of displaying a predetermined program is transmitted as an initial image corresponding to the viewing content stored in the step.

[0010] The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, claim 4
In the information processing method according to the above, and the transmission medium according to the claim 5, when the power of the information processing apparatus is turned off,
The immediately preceding viewing content is stored, and when the information processing apparatus is powered on, an EPG or an image of a predetermined program is displayed as an initial image corresponding to the stored viewing content.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, each means is described. When the features of the present invention are described by adding the corresponding embodiment (however, an example) in parentheses after the parentheses, the result is as follows. However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to those described.

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, when the power is turned off, the storage means (for example, the hard disk 22 in FIG. 2) for storing whether the immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program. And display control means (for example, CPU 16 in FIG. 2) for displaying an EPG or a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to the viewing content stored in the storage means when the power is turned on. Features.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an AV system and a communication network to which the present invention is applied. In this example, a monitor 5 is connected to the receiving device 1 configured as a set-top box. Program broadcasting company 6
The program and EPG transmitted from 1 are received by the receiving device 1 via the satellite 62, the broadcast antenna 63, the Internet 64, or the like. The EPG is distributed not only from the program broadcasting company 61 but also from a television guide service company (not shown) or the like. The receiving apparatus 1 receives an infrared signal output by a user operating the remote controller 7, performs processing corresponding to the received signal, and displays a predetermined program or EPG image on the monitor 5. ing.

FIG. 2 shows an electrical configuration example of an AV system to which the present invention is applied. In this AV system, a receiving device 1, a video deck 2, a CD player 3,
The amplifier 4 and the monitor 5 are interconnected by an IEEE 1394 bus 6.

The receiving apparatus 1 includes a tuner 11 and a tuner 1
3 and a communication module 14. The tuner 11 receives a terrestrial television broadcast via the antenna 12. The tuner 13 receives a cable television broadcast. The communication module 14 is connected to a telephone line and communicates via the Internet or another network.

The video processing module 15 includes the tuner 1
1, 13 or the video signal supplied from the communication module 14 is processed. CPU 16 is ROM
Various processes are executed in accordance with a program stored in the storage unit 20. The clock 17 always performs a clocking operation, and gives time information to the CPU 16.
The remote controller receiving module 18 receives an infrared signal output from the remote controller 7 and outputs a signal corresponding to the received signal to the CPU 16.

The AV control module 19 is connected to the 1394 bus 6, and is connected to the video deck 2, the CD player 3, and the other information processing devices connected to the 1394 bus 6.
An interface process related to transmission and reception of signals between the amplifier 4, the monitor 5, and the like is performed. RA
In the M21, various data and programs necessary for the CPU 16 to execute various processes are stored as necessary. The hard disk 22 stores various information such as EPG. The internal bus 23 interconnects the modules inside the receiving device 1 and the like.

The video deck 2 has an AV module 31 for performing interface processing with the 1394 bus 6 and a memory 32 for storing various information. The CD player 3 also has an AV control module 48 and a memory 42, like the video deck 2. Amplifier 4 is 1394
An AV control module 51 for performing interface processing with the bus 6 and a memory 52 for storing various data and the like
And a speaker 53 is connected.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the tuner 11 has a receiving unit 62 for 32 bits on its upper surface.
On its lower surface, a pin 61 for 32 bits is provided. These are connected to a 32-bit internal bus 23. Although not shown, the tuner 13, the communication module 14, and the like are also provided with receiving portions and pins on the upper surface and the lower surface, for example, as shown in FIG.
When the tuner 13 is mounted on the tuner 1, the pins 61 of the tuner 13 are connected to the receiving portions 62 of the tuner 11. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the internal circuit 11A of the tuner 11 and the internal circuit 1 of the tuner 13
3A is electrically connected to a 32-bit internal bus 23.

Although not shown, the communication module 14 also has a receiving portion and pins. For example, when the communication module 14 is mounted on the tuner 13 shown in FIG. Connected to internal bus 23.

With this configuration, the internal circuit can be electrically connected to the internal bus 23 only by loading each module. Therefore, necessary modules can be easily added in a small occupied space.

7 and 8 show examples of the configuration of the remote controller 7. FIG. The power button 101 is
Operated when turning the power on or off. The genre selection button 102 is operated when a predetermined genre is selected. In this example, "news", "sports", "variety", "information", "anime", "shopping", "weather forecast", "movie", "drama",
Each genre selection button of "education", "music", and "recommended" is provided.

Below the genre selection button 102, a program selection cursor button 103 is provided. The program selection cursor button 103 includes a button 103C operated to move the cursor upward, a button 103D operated to move the cursor downward, a button 103A operated to perform a return operation, and a forward operation It is configured by a button 103B to be operated and a button 103E to be operated when performing the determination processing.

The favorite button 104 is operated when a predetermined program is registered in a favorite program list. The EPG switching button 105 is used to select a predetermined type of EPG from a plurality of types of EPG.
Operated when selecting.

The guide button 106 provided on the left side of the remote controller 7 is operated when displaying the assistant screen. The sound can be adjusted by turning the sound adjustment dial 107 provided on the right side of the remote controller 7 upward or downward. When the voice adjustment dial 107 is pressed, the mode is switched to a voice output mode selection mode. In this state, the dial is turned upward or downward to select a desired voice output mode (for example, bilingual) and then pressed again. Then, the current audio output method is switched to the selected audio output method.

The cover 108 can be opened and closed. When the cover 108 is opened, as shown in FIG.
9 and various setting buttons 110 appear. Number button 1
09 is operated, for example, when entering a number such as a telephone number. Various setting buttons 110 are operated when performing predetermined settings.

When a predetermined button on the remote controller 7 is operated, an infrared signal is generated and received by the remote controller receiving module 18 of the receiving device 1. The remote controller receiving module 18 outputs a signal corresponding to the operated button to the CPU 16. CPU 16
The processing corresponding to the operated button is executed.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
A process of displaying an initial image when the power of the receiving device 1 is turned on will be described. Here, every time the power of the receiving device 1 is turned off, the content that was viewed immediately before that is
It is assumed that the information is stored (updated) in the hard disk 22 (the details of this point will be described later with reference to FIG. 15). When the user operates the button 101 of the remote controller 7 while the power of the receiving device 1 is off, first, in step S1, the power of the receiving device 1 is turned on. In step S2, the CPU 16 determines whether or not the viewing content stored when the power was last turned off is an EPG.
To execute a process of displaying the EPG program guide on the monitor 5. Thus, for example, a program guide as shown in FIG.

At this time, the program guide displays information on programs broadcast within a predetermined time (for example, 2 hours) from the current time.

If it is determined in step S2 that the stored viewing content is not an EPG (for example, a predetermined program), in step S3, among the programs registered in the EPG recommended program list, It is determined whether there is a program being broadcast at the current time. If it is determined that there is a recommended program being broadcast at the current time, the process proceeds to step S4, and the CPU proceeds to step S4.
The control unit 16 controls the tuner 11 or the tuner 13 to receive the recommended program and display the image on the monitor 5.

If it is determined in step S3 that there is no recommended program being broadcast at the current time, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, it is determined whether or not a program of a genre (for example, news) stored as a genre of the program being previewed when the power is turned off is being broadcast at the current time, and a corresponding genre is determined at the current time. When it is determined that the program is being broadcast, the process proceeds to step S6, where the CPU 16 controls the tuner 11 or the tuner 13 to receive the program and display the image on the monitor 5. Thus, for example, an image of a program as shown in FIG. If it is determined in step S5 that the program of the corresponding genre has not been broadcast at the current time, the process proceeds to step S7, where the CPU
16 executes processing for displaying the EPG program guide on the monitor 5.

In this manner, an initial image when the power of the receiving device 1 is turned on is displayed.

The user can set the priority order of the initial images.

In the display example of the EPG program guide of FIG. 10, five programs are displayed with program logos on the left side of the screen, and genre names corresponding to the five programs are displayed at the top of the screen. I have. The broadcast date and time of the program are displayed on the right side of the genre name. Further, in this display example, text indicating the content of the program is displayed on the right side of the image of the program. Then, a text or an advertisement indicating the content of the program is displayed below the image of the program. Various messages are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

When the user selects a predetermined program, a button 103C or 103D on the remote controller 7 is selected.
Is operated, the cursor located above any of the five program logos moves up and down. Then, a reduced image of the program where the cursor is located is displayed at the center of the screen. In this state, when the user operates the button 103E, for example, an image of the selected program is displayed as shown in FIG.

When the user operates the button 103A or 103B of the remote controller 7 in the state shown in FIG. 10, the genre is switched, and the program displayed in the list is switched to the program corresponding to the genre. Be replaced. When the button 103A is continuously operated, for example, "news", "sports", "varieties", "information", "anime", "shopping",
Genres are changed in a cyclic manner, such as “weather forecast”, “movie”, “drama”, “education”, “music”, and “recommended”. Button 103
When B is operated continuously, the genre is switched in the reciprocating direction opposite to that of the button 103A.

It is to be noted that such genre switching processing is performed as follows.
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, in a state in which an image of a normal program is displayed on the monitor 5 as shown in FIG.
The same operation is performed when B is operated.

Next, an example of processing when the favorite button 104 of the remote controller 7 is operated will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. For example, in the state shown in FIG.
When the user operates the button 04, it is determined in step S11 whether the corresponding program is registered in the recommended program list. For example, the user looks at the image of “program 2” shown in FIG. 10 or its contents, and operates the favorite button 104 when he / she wants to watch this program. If this “program 2” has not been registered in the recommended program list yet, the process proceeds to step S12, where processing for registering the program in the recommended program list is executed, and as shown in FIG. A check mark is displayed on "."

If it is determined in step S11 that the specified program has already been registered in the recommendation list, the flow advances to step S13 to execute processing for deleting the program from the recommendation program list.

The above processing is not performed when the program guide is displayed but when the favorite button 104 is operated while the normal program image is displayed on the monitor 5 as shown in FIG. 14 is executed in the same manner, and as shown in FIG. 14, a message image indicating that the currently viewed program is registered is displayed on the monitor 5 in a manner superimposed on the currently broadcasted image.

As described above, the user can register a desired program in the recommended program list. The user selects the genre selection button 10 on the remote controller 7
When the recommended button in 2 is selected, the recommended program list in which the program has been registered as described above is displayed on the monitor 5.

Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 15, a description will be given of a process of storing the viewing contents immediately before the receiving device 1 is turned off. When the user operates the button 101 of the remote controller 7 in a state where the EPG or the normal program is displayed on the monitor 5, step S
At 101, the CPU 16 causes the hard disk 22 to record the current viewing content. Then, step S10
In 2, the power of the receiving device 1 is turned off.

As described above, by storing the viewing contents immediately before the power is turned off, the next time the power is turned on, the initial image is displayed in accordance with the stored viewing contents. Become.

As a transmission medium for transmitting a program for performing the above-described processing to a user, a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, a CD-ROM, a solid-state memory, and a communication medium such as a network or a satellite may be used. Can be.

[0045]

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the fourth aspect, and the fifth aspect.
According to the transmission medium described in (1), the viewing screen immediately before the power is turned off is stored, and when the power is turned on, the initial image is displayed according to the stored viewing screen. It is possible to more quickly and reliably select a target program.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an AV system and a communication network to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical configuration of an AV system to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of the tuner 11 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of the tuner 11 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the tuners 11 and 13 of FIG. 2 are stacked.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection state of internal circuits of the tuner 11 and the tuner 13 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a remote controller 7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a remote controller 7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a display process of an initial image.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a normal program.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process when a favorite button 104 in FIG. 7 is operated.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide when a favorite button 104 is operated.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a normal program when a favorite button 104 is operated.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a viewing content storage process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example of a conventional EPG program selection screen.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional remote controller.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing another display example of a conventional EPG program selection screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 receiver, 2 video deck, 3 CD player, 4 amplifier, 5 monitor, 7 remote controller, 11, 13 tuner, 14 communication module, 16 CPU, 22 hard disk

Claims (5)

[Claims] When the power is turned off, a storage means for storing whether the immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program; and when the power is turned on, the storage means stores the content. An information processing apparatus, comprising: display control means for displaying the EPG or a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to a viewing content. 2. The display control means according to the viewing contents stored in said storage means, an EPG program guide and an EPG program guide.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a recommended program specified by a PG or a program of the same genre as the genre of the viewing content is displayed. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when displaying the EPG program guide, the display control means displays information of a program broadcast within a predetermined time from a current time. apparatus. 4. When the power is turned off, a storage step for storing which of the immediately preceding viewing contents is an EPG and a program, and when the power is turned on, the viewing stored in the storage step. A display control step of displaying the EPG or a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to the content. 5. A storage step for storing whether an immediately preceding viewing content is an EPG or a program when the power is turned off, and said viewing stored in said storage step when the power is turned on. A transmission medium for transmitting a program having an EPG or a display control step of displaying a predetermined program as an initial image corresponding to the content.