KR20090097585A - Device for playing program file of digital broadcasting receiver and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for reproducing programs in a broadcasting receiver and a method thereof are provided to enable a user to view a program at a desired time and realize a customized broadcast service. An apparatus for reproducing programs in a broadcasting receiver comprises the following steps of: receiving/storing personal program arrangement information in which a date of reproducing a specific program is edited by using a regular program arrangement information included in a broadcast signal(S11, S12); checking the televising time for the specific program which is set up in a personal EPG(S13); and then receiving the corresponding program and storing it in a storage means when the televising time of the corresponding program arrives(S14, S15).

Description

Program reproduction apparatus and method of broadcast receiver {DEVICE FOR PLAYING PROGRAM FILE OF DIGITAL BROADCASTING RECEIVER AND METHOD THEREFOR}

The present invention relates to program recording and reproducing of a broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a program reproducing apparatus and a method of a broadcast receiver for automatically reproducing a broadcast program at a date and time desired by a user.

Recently, a digital broadcast receiver has been released with a digital broadcast recording function (Personal Video Recorder or Digital Video Recorder; hereinafter referred to as 'PVR') that records and plays digital broadcasts through a storage medium such as a hard disk. The PVR function may be a built-in type embedded in the digital broadcast receiver or an external type connected to the digital broadcast receiver externally.

The PVR function is rapidly replacing the existing VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) product due to the full-scale digital broadcasting. The PVR function is equipped with a high-performance central processing unit (CPU), and uses a method of recording digital programs on a storage unit such as a hard disk drive (HDD) on a file basis. Therefore, the user can search for a program stored in the storage medium, and repeatedly play and edit the program to watch.

The method of recording a program using the PVR function is 'immediate recording' that records directly through key input while watching a program, or 'scheduled recording' or menu that schedules recording through EPG information. There is a 'time shift recording' method to set the time shift function.

For reference, the time shift function provides a temporary storage (or buffering) method for a program that has already been watched for a predetermined time, so that the program may not be missed for a moment or watch again, or the broadcast may be skipped at a part of which is not of great interest. It means to watch.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording a program using a general PVR function.

As shown in FIG. 1, when audio, video, and PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) data are received from a broadcasting station, EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information showing information about a program is obtained from the PSIP data (S1).

For reference, the PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) is a protocol used to transmit information and broadcast schedules for each channel of a transport stream multiplexed in the ATSC digital broadcasting standard. It defines EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information such as channel and program title, broadcast time, storyline, and rating information according to the contents of video contents.

The user finds and watches a desired program by using the EPG, and when viewing a program, viewing contents for a predetermined time are temporarily stored by the time shift recording function of the PVR (S2).

At this time, if the user wants to record a desired program, pressing the record button of the remote control or the main body immediately records (S3), whereby the program starts to be stored in the hard disk of the PVR (S4).

Thereafter, when watching the desired program is finished, the user immediately stops recording by pressing the stop button on the remote controller or the main body (S5). At this time, the PVR stops the recording operation on the hard disk, searches for EPG data, inserts a title, a plot, and the like of the newly created recording program and adds it to the recording program list (S6, S7).

Subsequently, the user plays the recorded broadcast stored in the hard disk of the PVR through key input when desired (S8). Of course, if the time shift function is set when watching the recorded broadcast, the broadcast of the current channel is stored (buffered) in the digital broadcast recorder for a predetermined time.

Conventional digital broadcast receivers perform time shift and recording functions through this process.

As such, the conventional PVR function is a device that searches for and plays a specific file when the user wants after recording (storing) a desired program. The PVR function can store and watch a specific program regardless of the broadcast time.

However, such a PVR function is convenient, but the user has to search and play the stored files one by one. Therefore, when there are many files, there is a lot of trouble in searching. There were several inefficient problems.

An object of the present invention is to set the user-oriented personal EPG (EPG) information by using the received program information EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information to store the program automatically according to the set personal EPG information to automatically play, Disclosed is a program reproduction apparatus and method for a broadcast receiver capable of implementing an EPG service.

Technical means of the present invention for achieving the above object, Electronic program guide (EPG) storage unit for storing the personal program programming information consisting of the broadcast-related information and playback-related information set by the user; A demultiplexer for demultiplexing and outputting an AV (Audio / Video) stream and PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) data from an externally transmitted transport stream; An up-down control unit for storing the AV stream inputted from the demultiplexer in a storage unit or retrieving an AV stream of a specific program stored in the storage unit and delivering the AV stream to the A / V decoder; And storing and setting the personal EPG information input by the user in the EPG storage unit, and controlling the up-down control unit so that the program is stored in the storage unit according to the broadcasting-related information set in the personal EPG, and the playback-related setting set in the personal EPG. And a microprocessor for controlling the up-down control unit so that the stored program is reproduced when the reproduction time is reached according to the information.

Specifically, the broadcast-related information includes a title of the program, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, and a broadcast channel, and the play-related information includes a play date and a play time of the program.

The microprocessor controls the program to be stored in accordance with the broadcast related information set in the personal EPG while the broadcast receiver is operating or in operation, and stores the corresponding program stored in accordance with the playback related information set in the personal EPG in the operating state. And control to be reproduced.

The personal program programming information may be a user-oriented personal EPG configured by a user editing and configuring the received regular program programming information included in the broadcast signal.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a technical method comprising: a first step of receiving and storing personal program listing information in which a reproduction date of a specific program is edited using regular program listing information included in a broadcast signal; Checking a broadcast time of a specific program set in the personal EPG, and when the broadcast time of the corresponding program arrives, receiving the corresponding program and storing the program in a storage means; A third step of determining whether a playback time has been reached by checking a playback time of a program set in the personal EPG; And a fourth step of reproducing the corresponding program stored in the storage means when the reproduction time of the program set in the personal EPG is reached.

Specifically, the personal program configuration information includes broadcast related information of a program for reservation recording and playback related information for reproduction, and the broadcast related information includes a title, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, and a broadcast channel of the program. The play related information may include a play date and a play time of the program.

The first step may include: displaying, on a screen, regular program programming information included in a broadcast signal according to an input command; Receiving a specific program to be set as personal program programming information among the regular program programming information; Receiving a play date and a play time of the inputted specific program, respectively; And setting the broadcasting-related information and the reproduction-related information of the inputted specific program to complete the personal EPG.

The airing-related information may be at least one of a title of the program included in the regular program formation information, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, and a broadcast channel.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a user-oriented personal EPG is set using EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information that is received regular program programming information, the program is automatically reproduced by storing the program according to the set personal EPG information. User-oriented programs can be played to maximize convenience.

In addition, it is possible to watch a desired program at a time desired by the user, thereby realizing a personalized broadcasting service, and there is an advantage of meeting various needs of consumers.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a diagram illustrating a program reproduction apparatus of a broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a tuner 110, a demodulator 115, a demultiplexer 120 (DMUX), a PSIP processor 130, and an EPG storage unit are shown. 140, an up-down control unit 150, a storage unit 155, a microprocessor 160, an OSD signal generator 170, an A / V decoder 180, a video processor 190, and the like.

The broadcast receiver 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a digital television and a set-top box having a function of receiving a predetermined digital broadcast signal and making a reservation recording to a predetermined storage means 155. Box) and the like. Here, the storage means 155 may correspond to a large capacity hard disk or flash memory.

That is, the broadcast receiver 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a built-in or external storage means 155, the storage means 155 may receive and store the AV stream output through the tuner 110. In addition, the stored AV stream may be reproduced and output to the display panel.

The tuner 110 is responsible for tuning and processing a high frequency transmission stream received through an antenna. In this case, the digital broadcast signal includes program and system information protocol (PSIP) data including an event information table (EIT), an extended text table (ETT), and the like according to the present invention.

The demodulator 115 receives a transport stream of an intermediate frequency output from the tuner 110 and performs a function of demodulating a VSB / EVSB (Vestigial Side Band / Enhanced Vestigial Side Band) signal.

The demultiplexer 120 performs a function of demultiplexing a transport stream input from the demodulator 115 to separate and output an AV / Audio stream and PSIP data. In this case, the demultiplexing of the PSIP data may be controlled by the PSIP processing unit 130.

The PSIP processing unit 130 extracts EPG information through the event information table (EIT) and extended text table (ETT) table among the PSIP data transmitted from the demultiplexing unit 120 and stores them in the EPG storage unit 140. The EPG storage unit 140 stores the program information 141 for each channel and time zone under the management of the PSIP processing unit 130. In addition, the EPG storage unit 140 also stores the personal EPG information 145 set by the user together with the program organization information 141.

The personal EPG refers to user-oriented program programming information in which a user edits a broadcast reproduction time by using program programming information. That is, the personal EPG is personal program organization information (Personal EPG; hereinafter referred to as 'PEPG') created by the user using normal program organization information (Normal EPG).

The personal EPG (PEPG) stored in the EPG storage unit 140 includes a program title, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, a broadcast channel, a play date, and a play time as shown in FIG. 3. The broadcast-related information is for reserved recording of a corresponding program, and the playback-related information is for playing back the recorded corresponding program.

The up-down controller 150 stores the AV stream output through the demultiplexer 120 in the storage means 155 or retrieves a program stored in the storage means 155 under the control of the microprocessor 160. Configured to pass to the decoder 180. The storage means 155 is composed of a large capacity hard disk (HDD) or flash memory. That is, the up-down control unit 150 receives an undecoded AV stream output through the demultiplexer 120 and stores the decoded AV stream under the control of the microprocessor 160 and stores it in the storage unit 155 to reproduce the stored program. In this case, the AV stream of the corresponding program is read and input to the A / V decoder 180.

The microprocessor 160 controls the PSIP processing unit 130 and the up-down control unit 150 according to a user's command input through a predetermined remote control receiver or a GUI (Graphic User Interface) to set personal EPG and to control personal EPG. Various operations related to broadcasting storage and playback according to the setting are performed.

In addition, when the EPG display command is input through a predetermined remote control receiver, the microprocessor 160 obtains the regular program programming information 141 and the personal EPG information 145 stored in the EPG storage unit 140 to display the OSD signal generation unit. The output is 170.

The OSD signal generation unit 170 is configured to process the program information and personal EPG information imaged by the microprocessor 160 as an On Screen Display (OSD) signal to generate and output OSD screen data.

In addition, the A / V decoder 180 receives the AV stream output from the demultiplexer 120 or the up-down controller 150 and separates the audio stream into audio and video signals, respectively, and then the audio decoder 181 and the video decoder 185. Are respectively decoded, and the video processing unit 190 overlays the video data input from the video decoder 185 or the OSD screen data input from the OSD signal generating unit 170 or respectively. It is configured to output to the display panel.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a personal EPG setting and a program reproducing process according to the present invention, and FIGS. 5A to 5D are GUI screens illustrating a personal EPG setting process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the broadcast receiver 100 extracts EPG information from the PSIP data transferred from the demultiplexer 120 through the PSIP processing unit 130 through the EIT and ETT tables and stores the EPG information in the EPG storage unit 140. The storage 140 stores program schedule information (EPG) for each broadcast channel and time under the management of the PSIP processor 130.

Information such as ID, title, airing date, airing time, airing length (airing time) of each program in the PSIP data is transmitted through an event information table (EIT) table, and additional information of the program is extended text table (ETT). Is sent via). Therefore, when the PSIP processing unit 130 parses the EIT and ETT table of the PSIP data, it obtains information about the program of each channel, that is, information such as the title of the program, the date of the broadcast, the time of the broadcast, and detailed information describing the program. It becomes possible.

In this state, when the EPG display command is input through a predetermined remote control receiver or input unit, the microprocessor 160 obtains the regular program organization information NEPG and the personal EPG information PEPG stored in the EPG storage unit 140, respectively. To be output to the OSD signal generation unit 170. Accordingly, the OSD signal generation unit 170 processes the regular program programming information and the personal EPG information imaged by the microprocessor 160 as an On Screen Display (OSD) signal to generate OSD screen data and output the OSD screen data to the video processing unit 190. The video processor 190 overlays the OSD screen data as shown in FIG. 5A output from the OSD signal generator 170 on the video data decoded by the video decoder 185 and outputs the same to the display panel (S11).

FIG. 5A illustrates an EPG initial screen displayed on a display panel, and illustrates an example in which regular program programming information NEPG and personal program programming information PEPG stored in the EPG storage unit 140 are simultaneously displayed. Although it is preferable to simultaneously display the regular program programming information and the personal program programming information on one screen when viewing or editing the EPG information, it is possible to implement such that the regular program programming information (NEPG) and the personal program programming information (PEPG) are sequentially displayed. It may be. In Fig. 5A, the personal program programming information indicates an initialized state.

In the EPG initial screen as shown in FIG. 5A, when the microprocessor 160 receives a command for selecting a specific program to be set as the personal EPG from the regular EPG information through the remote control receiver or the input unit, confirms the setting of the personal EPG as shown in FIG. 5B. The confirmation message is extracted from the memory 165 and popped up on the GUI screen through the OSD signal generator 170. Application programs related to the EPG settings are previously stored in the memory 165.

In the above, the user can select a program to be set as a personal EPG among the regular EPG information by adjusting the direction keys of the remote controller or the input unit, and the airing date and the airing time of the regular EPG information are scrolled up, down, left and right according to the input command The program is also changed and displayed accordingly.

When a command for selecting 'confirmation' is input through the remote control receiver or the input unit in the confirmation message of FIG. 5B, the microprocessor 160 waits for the input setting of the reproduction date and the reproduction time of the personal EPG according to the application program.

Accordingly, when a command for selecting a playback date and a playback time of a specific program to be set as a personal EPG is input through the remote control receiver or input unit, the microprocessor 160 receives a confirmation message for confirming the playback date as shown in FIG. 5C. Read from the 165 and pops up on the GUI screen through the OSD signal generation unit 170.

In the above, the user can select the playback date and playback time to be played in the personal EPG by adjusting the direction keys of the remote controller or the input unit. Is displayed.

When a command for selecting 'OK' is input through the remote control receiver or the input unit in the confirmation message of FIG. 5C, the program selected by the user is inserted and displayed on the selected date and time in the personal EPG as shown in FIG. 5D, and the microprocessor 160 is displayed. ) Stores the personal EPG in the EPG storage unit 140 as shown in FIG. 3. That is, a personal EPG (PEPG) stored in the EPG storage unit 140 includes a program title, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, a broadcast channel, a play date, and a play time as shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, the broadcast receiver reserves and records the program with reference to the broadcasting-related information of the personal EPG, and records the corresponding program recorded with reference to the playback-related information at the corresponding date and time (an arbitrary channel without a broadcasting signal). Will be played on.

Through this process, for example, the setting of the personal EPG to automatically play the Taewangsashingi aired on the MBC on November 28, 2007 at 14:00 and on the personal channel at 14:00 on December 1, 2007 is completed. As described above, the personal EPG is set to automatically play back various programs at a desired time by using the regular program EPG (S12).

Subsequently, the microprocessor 160 periodically checks whether the broadcast date and the broadcast time of the predetermined program are reached by searching the personal EPG shown in FIG. 3 stored in the EPG storage unit 140 (S13). Of course, the broadcast receiver should be in a standby state or a power on state.

When the broadcast date and the broadcast time of the predetermined program set as the personal EPG are reached (S14), the microprocessor 160 controls the tuner 110 to tune to the corresponding channel, and the received AV stream is demultiplexer 120. The associated devices are controlled to be stored in the storage means 155 through the up-down control unit 150 (S15). When the broadcast signal is to be downloaded and stored in the storage means 155, the broadcast signal is stored in the form of a transport stream without performing an AV decoding process. Subsequently, when the AV stream stored in the storage means 155 is to be uploaded and played, the audio decoder 181 and the video decoder 185 decode the audio stream and output the same to the speaker and the display panel (not shown). .

When the AV stream is stored in the storage means 155, the microprocessor 160 searches for regular program programming information, inserts a title, a plot, a broadcast date, and the like of the newly stored program, and adds it to the list of recorded programs. In addition, the microprocessor 160 may store the AV stream of the program in the storage means 155 and record the stored address in the personal EPG so that the microprocessor 160 may easily find the storage address for future reference of the program. .

If it is not the broadcast time of the predetermined program set as the personal EPG in S14, the microprocessor 160 checks whether the broadcast receiver is in a power-on state (S16). It is periodically checked whether the playing date and the playing time of the predetermined program are set (S17).

If the broadcast receiver is not in operation (S16), that is, in the operation standby state, only the airing date and the airing time of the program set in the personal EPG are checked (S13). This is to perform the reproduction operation of the personal EPG only while the broadcast receiver is in operation, which means that the personal EPG is different from the normal 'on reservation' function.

When the reproduction date and the reproduction time of the predetermined program set in the personal EPG are reached (S18), the microprocessor 160 automatically switches the channel to the personal channel (S19), and then transfers a reproduction command to the up-down control unit 150. The up-down control unit 150 retrieves the AV stream of the corresponding program stored in the storage unit 155 and uploads it to the A / V decoder 180.

Accordingly, the AV stream is separated into audio and video data by the A / V decoder 180, and then input to the audio decoder 181 and the video decoder 185, respectively. The audio and video data are input to the audio decoder 181 and the video decoder. Decoded through 185 and output through a speaker and a display panel (S20).

On the other hand, if the playback time is not in the state where the broadcast receiver is in operation, the broadcast receiver performs an operation corresponding thereto according to the user's input command (S21).

As described above, in the present invention, when a personal EPG is edited with a desired date and time of a user's desired program using regular program programming information transmitted from a broadcasting station, the broadcast receiver plays a desired program at a date and time designated by a user in a personal channel. .

Conventional personal video recorder (PVR) technology is a device that records (stores) a program that a user wants and then searches for and plays when the user wants. However, according to the present invention, the program is broadcasted according to the user's schedule, that is, according to the personal EPG, rather than the broadcast by the NEPG of the broadcasting station.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are disclosed for purposes of illustration, and those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications, changes, and additions within the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, such modifications, changes and additions should be determined not only by the claims below, but also by equivalents to those claims.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording a program using a general PVR function.

2 is a block diagram showing a program reproduction apparatus of a broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a personal EPG according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart showing a personal EPG setting and program reproduction process according to the present invention.

5A to 5D are GUI screens illustrating a personal EPG setting process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

110: tuner 115: demodulator

120: demultiplexer 130: PSIP processing unit

140: EPG storage unit 141: regular EPG (NEPG)

145: personal EPG (PEPG) 150: up-down control unit

155: storage means 160: microprocessor

170: OSD signal generator 180: A / V decoder

190: video processing unit

Claims (12)

An electronic program guide (EPG) storage unit for storing personal program configuration (personal EPG) information composed of broadcast-related information and reproduction-related information edited by a user; A demultiplexer for demultiplexing and outputting an AV (Audio / Video) stream and PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) data from an externally transmitted transport stream; An up-down control unit for storing the AV stream inputted from the demultiplexer in a storage unit or retrieving an AV stream of a specific program stored in the storage unit and delivering the AV stream to the A / V decoder; And In addition to storing the personal EPG information edited by the user in the EPG storage unit, the control unit controls the up-down control unit so that the program is stored in the storage unit according to the broadcasting-related information set in the personal EPG, and reproduces according to the reproduction related information set in the personal EPG. And a microprocessor for controlling the up-down control unit so that the stored program is reproduced when the time is reached. The method according to claim 1, The broadcasting-related information includes a title and a broadcasting date, a broadcasting time, and a broadcasting channel of the program, and the playing-related information includes a playing date and a playing time of the program. The method according to claim 1, The microprocessor controls the program to be stored in accordance with the broadcast related information set in the personal EPG while the broadcast receiver is operating or in operation, and stores the corresponding program stored in accordance with the playback related information set in the personal EPG in the operating state. Program playback apparatus for a broadcast receiver, characterized in that the control to be reproduced. The method according to claim 1, And the personal program programming information is a user-oriented personal EPG configured by a user editing the received regular program programming information included in a broadcast signal. A first step of receiving and storing personal program listing information in which a reproduction date of a specific program is edited using regular program listing information included in a broadcast signal; A second step of checking a broadcasting time of a specific program set in the personal EPG, and receiving the corresponding program and storing it in a storage means when the broadcasting time of the corresponding program arrives; A third step of determining whether a playback time has been reached by checking a playback time of a program set in the personal EPG; And And a fourth step of reproducing the corresponding program stored in the storage means when the reproduction time of the program set in the personal EPG is reached. The method according to claim 5, And the personal program programming information includes broadcast related information of a program for reservation recording and playback related information for reproduction. The method according to claim 6, The broadcast-related information includes a title of the program, a broadcast date, a broadcast time, and a broadcast channel, and the play-related information includes a play date and a play time of the program. The method according to claim 5, The first step may include: displaying, on a screen, regular program programming information included in a broadcast signal according to an input command; Receiving a specific program to be set as personal program programming information among the regular program programming information; Receiving a play date and a play time of the inputted specific program, respectively; And setting the broadcasting related information and the reproduction related information of the specific program to complete a personal EPG. The method according to claim 8, The broadcast-related information is a program reproduction method of a broadcast receiver, characterized in that at least one of the title and the broadcast date, the broadcast time and the broadcast channel of the program included in the program information. The method according to claim 5, The second step is a program reproduction method of a broadcast receiver, characterized in that the broadcast receiver is performed in the operation standby or operating state. The method according to claim 5 or 10, And the third step is performed while the broadcast receiver is operating. The method according to claim 5, And automatically converting the current channel into a personal channel before performing the fourth step.

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