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Description  |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiver capable of
receiving program broadcast material of a desired genre by automatically
tuning to a particular broadcast channel, or channels, based upon past
broadcast program reception history.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common for television users to view television programs of a similar
type, or genre, at regularly recurring times of the day, week, or month,
for example. Even more particularly, it is common for users to regularly
view the same broadcast television programs at, for example, the same time
each day, week or month. To tune to a broadcast channel on which a desired
television program is broadcast, it is quite common for a user/viewer to
resort to manually tuning the television tuner to each of a plurality of
available broadcast channels to view the program contents on each
broadcast channel so as to determine on which channel a desired television
program is broadcast. Alternatively, it is also common for a user/viewer
to refer to a printed or otherwise viewable program guide, or schedule, to
determine on which broadcast channel, or channels, a desired television
program is broadcast and at what time such broadcast occurs.
The aforementioned methods of selecting a broadcast channel/program
broadcast for viewing are often adequate where there is a limited number
of available broadcast channels. However, as the number of available
broadcast channels increases, the aforementioned methods of broadcast
channel/program selection become much more cumbersome and time consuming.
Further, as the number of available channels increases, a user must either
individually tune to each of a plurality of the increased number of
available broadcast channels to determine what is broadcast or try to
navigate their way thru a large body of program guide/schedule information
which details information for each of the available broadcast channels.
Both of these methods of broadcast channel selection require more time on
the part of the user. Further, the increased size of the program guide
data makes referral to such a guide cumbersome as well.
Typical television receivers provide for storing the last viewed, or tuned,
broadcast channel so that it may be subsequently tuned to upon next power
up. This is very convenient for those viewers who want only to watch the
last viewed broadcast channel, however, it does not really provide for
those users who want to view television programs which happen to be
broadcast on a plurality of differing channels. Tuning devices are
available which allow a user to program in data, or program code
information, to cause a predetermined television program to be tuned in at
a particular time, these types of devices generally require that a user
refer to a program guide of the aforementioned type. As the number of
available broadcast channels increases the number of program code data
also increases, as well as, typically, the length of such data. As a
result the programming, or entering, of the requisite program code data is
often difficult for inexperienced users.
Previously known television broadcast receiving devices such as that
disclosed in Japan Laid open application JP-05-219455 (Laid open date:
Aug. 27, 1993) to S. Mitsumasa, which is assigned to the assignee of the
present invention, allow for a television receiver to be automatically
tuned to a particular broadcast channel based upon a program history which
details the frequency of viewing on particular channels at a particular
day or time period. These types of receivers however, do not allow for the
automatic tuning to a broadcast channel on which a program of a
predetermined/selected genre/type is broadcast, based upon a reception
history which sets out the broadcast channels on which a program(s) of a
predetermined genre/type have been most frequently received in the past.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
tuning device which allows for automatic tuning of broadcast channels on
which particular television programs, or types/genre of programs are
broadcast based upon user input, or identification of a desired program,
or program type.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tuning
method and a tuning apparatus for automatically tuning in a
channel/broadcast channel as specified by the user for a particular
program or genre of program and, if the specified program/genre exists in
plurality, automatically tuning in the channel based on the frequency at
which the desired program/genre has been received in the past.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tuning method and a
tuning apparatus for relatively easy timer-reservation setting without
requiring the user to refer to a program guide/listing or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a
channel tune-in apparatus for receiving a television broadcast signal and
tuning in a desired channel, the apparatus includes a remote controller
having a plurality of user input keys, or buttons. At least some of these
user input keys are associated with a particular television program or
program genre/type, and are used to indicate a users desire to view a
particular television program or program genre/type. There is also
provided a photo-receiver for receiving a control signal from the remote
controller, a registration memory for storing program genre code
information (genre data) related to each of the programs or program genres
associated with each of the genre input keys of the remote controller, an
extractor for extracting genre code data (program identification data)
from a received television signal, and a comparator for comparing
extracted genre code data with genre code data stored in the registration
memory and, where the extracted genre code data matches the stored genre
code data selecting, or tuning in, the broadcast channel corresponding to
the extracted genre data.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a frequency
memory for storing receiving history data (reception history data)
regarding the frequency with which a particular program or programs of a
particular genre are viewed on a particular broadcast channel, or
channels. This stored frequency data is subsequently referred to
automatically select the broadcast channel, or channels, on which a
particular desired/selected program genre, or program, has been previously
viewed most frequently. Thus allowing a user to tune in a broadcast
channel having a desired/selected program or program genre broadcast
thereon, based upon the past receiving history.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
tuning method for receiving a television broadcast signal and tuning in a
desired broadcast channel, which includes the steps of entering a first
genre code of a desired program, extracting a second genre code (program
identification data) from a television broadcast signal, making a
comparison between the first genre code and the second genre code for all
receivable channels, and, where a program broadcast has an extracted
second genre code which matches, or corresponds to, the first genre code,
tuning to that broadcast channel. Where there is more than one broadcast
channel having an extracted genre code which matches the first genre code,
then tuning in the channel having the highest frequency of past receiving
history as set out by reception history data stored in memory.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings, in
which like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar
parts in several views.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a television receiver having a
channel-tuning apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of a remote controller;
FIG. 3 shows a screen displayed when a channel is tuned in with a genre
specified;
FIG. 4 shows a screen depicting a time at which a program scheduled to be
broadcast starts;
FIG. 5A is a flowchart indicating a channel tune-in operation with a genre
specified and should be viewed in conjunction with FIG. 5B and 5C;
FIG. 5B is a flowchart indicating a channel tune-in operation with a genre
specified and should be viewed in conjunction with FIGS. 5A and 5C;
FIG. 5C is a flowchart indicating a channel tune-in operation with a genre
specified and should be viewed in conjunction with FIGS. 5A and 5C;
FIG. 6A is a flowchart continued from the flowchart of FIG. 5C;
FIG. 6B is a flowchart continued from the flowchart of FIG. 5B;
FIG. 7 shows a screen for registering a program genre;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for newly registering a
genre;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for registering a program
title into a genre button; and
FIG. 10 is an illustration showing an example of a display screen for
entering a title.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram illustrating a
television receiver equipped with the channel tune-in apparatus according
to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a television signal coming from a
television broadcasting station is received by an antenna 1 and supplied
to a tuner 2.
A method, generally referred to as EDS(Extended Data Service), for
transmitting data on a television signal has previously been described in
Electronic Industries Association(EIA) Standard EIA-608: Recommended
Practice for Line 21 Data Service (September, 1994) which is hereby
incorporated herein by reference. EDS data is transmitted via a television
signal using two-field 21st line of a vertical blanking interval of the
television signal. The EDS data includes data such as start time, elapsed
time, broadcasting channel, and a genre of a program currently broadcast
or to be broadcast, for example. It should be noted that the transmission
of the EDS data is practiced in the United States of America and therefore
the following preferred embodiments are not limited to the use of EDS data
although some reference is made for illustrative purposes to the EDS data
in the following description.
In the tuner 2, a television signal of a desired channel/broadcast channel
is tuned in accordance with a tune-in control signal from a microcomputer
13. The television signal of the tuned-in channel is converted by a video
intermediate frequency amplifier 3 into a video intermediate frequency
signal, which is demodulated by a video signal detector 4 into a video
signal. The video signal outputted from the video signal detector 4 is
then supplied to a video signal processor 5. The video signal supplied to
the video signal processor 5 is separated into a luminance signal
component and a color difference signal component. Then, predetermined
processing is performed on these separated components. Three primary color
signals R, G, and B are formed from the processed signals by a matrix
circuit, not shown, to be outputted to a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) 24 through
a switch 6.
In the video intermediate frequency amplifier 3, an audio intermediate
frequency signal is separated from the video intermediate frequency
signal. The separated audio intermediate frequency signal is demodulated
by an audio detector 7 and then amplified by the audio intermediate
frequency amplifier 8. The amplified audio intermediate frequency signal
undergoes predetermined processing by an audio signal processor 9 and then
is output to a speaker 10.
The video signal detector 4 is connected to a slicer 21. Slicer 21 acts to
separate EDS information, or the like, from the broadcast signal. The
output of the slicer 21 is sent to a decoder 22 and the microcomputer 13.
The microcomputer 13 is connected to a character generator 20. The
microcomputer controls a switch 23 to selectively provide EDS information
output from the decoder 22 to an adder 25 for adding to character
information output from the character generator 20. The selected
information from adder 25 is then supplied to the switch 6, thereby
controlling the display on the CRT 24.
The microcomputer is also connected to a remote control signal receiver 12
for receiving an infrared signal coming from a remote controller 11 to, a
clock 16 for timer reservation, and to an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 18
for indicating that timer reservation is on, or set, thereby allowing the
user to give instructions to the tune-in apparatus via remote control
signal receiver 12.
The microcomputer 13 is further connected to a reservation memory 14, a
registration memory 15, and a frequency memory 19.
The reservation memory 14, the registration memory 15, and the frequency
memory 19 are each composed of a nonvolatile memory. The reservation
memory 14 stores timer reservation information. The registration memory 15
stores data representing a relationship, or association, between remote
controller buttons, or user input keys, and program titles or genres. The
frequency memory 19 stores data about the history of reception of
broadcast channels and programs, or program genres, selected by the user.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a front view of the remote controller
11. Reference numeral 31 indicates a power switch for turning on/off the
power to the television receiver. Reference numeral 32 indicates a
plurality of channel buttons (numbered 1-12). When one of the channel
buttons 32 is pressed, or actuated, a corresponding broadcast channel is
selected, or tuned in. For example, if channel button 2 is actuated, the
broadcast channel 2, or another channel associated with channel button "2"
will be tuned in.
Reference numeral 33 indicates a plurality of genre buttons. The genre
buttons are each associated with a particular genre/type of program. For
example button "genre 1" is associated with the genre of Educational
programming. Button "genre 4" is associated with News programming, while
button "genre 7" is associated with Music programming. The genre buttons
are used to select a program belonging to a desired genre. For example,
when a "News" genre button is pressed, only broadcast channels on which
news programs are broadcast will be selected/tuned in and displayed on the
CRT 24. Unused genre buttons ("Unused 1" and "Unused 2") of the genre
button group will be described later.
Reference numeral 34A indicates a channel up/down button. When the "+" side
is pressed, the tuner is tuned to channels incrementally, one by one; when
the "-" side is pressed, the tuner is tuned to channels decrementally, one
by one. Reference numeral 34B indicates a volume control button. When the
"+" side of the volume control button is pressed, volume is increased;
when the "-" side of the volume button is pressed, volume is decreased.
Reference numeral 35 indicates a timer reservation button. The timer
reservation button 35 is used for timer reservation setting. Reference
numeral 36 indicates a registration button. The registration button 36 is
used to set, or associate, genres or programs with the unused (user
assignable) genre buttons "genre 8" and "genre 9". Reference numeral 37
indicates cursor control buttons. The cursor control buttons are used
along with the registration button 36 to set genres to the genre unused
buttons. In the preferred embodiment available genres, or program
names/titles can be displayed on the display 24. By using the cursor
control keys 37, a cursor appearing on the display 24 may be moved across
the display to highlight or select the genre, or program name, which the
user desires to associate with, or assign to, the unused genre buttons.
Reference numeral 38 indicates an enter button. The enter button 38 is used
to enter a new genre selected by the registration button 36 and the cursor
buttons 37 and a timer reservation made by the timer reservation button
35. A display button 38 is used to display information received in EDS to
the CRT 24 and will be described later in detail.
Now, a tune-in operation based on genre specification will be described
with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 6. FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts that
indicate an operation of the microcomputer 13 at for setting channel
tune-in and timer reservation and based on genre specification. First, the
microcomputer 13 detects that the television receiver has been turned on
(step 41). A channel frequently viewed within, for example, one week
before in the generally same time zone, or period, is read from the
frequency memory 19 and selected, or tuned in, automatically (steps 42,
43). Thus, channel selection based on reception frequency data is
performed. Namely, upon powering on the television receiver, the most
frequently viewed channel is automatically selected.
Then, if the channel selected first is found not to contain a desired
program, the user performs direct tune-in (namely, tuning in a desired
channel by entering a channel number corresponding to a desired channel
through the remote controller), or operates the channel up/down button
34A, or specifies a genre of a desired program via genre buttons 33. The
direct tune-in and the tune-in by means of the channel up/down button will
not be described because these operations are the same as with the
conventional art.
Of the above-mentioned three tune-in methods, it is supposed that the
tune-in by genre specification is performed. For example, if a "Sports"
genre button (FIG. 2) is pressed (step 44), EDS data about the current
channel is extracted by the slicer 21 connected to the video signal
detector 4. The extracted EDS data is temporarily stored in the
microcomputer 13. This processing is performed on all available channels
sequentially (step 45). Based on the stored EDS data, the microcomputer 13
determines whether the program of the genre specified by the genre button
is being broadcast or not (step 46). If the microcomputer 13 determines
that the program belonging to the specified genre is being broadcast only
in one channel (step 47), the microcomputer 13 switches the tune-in
control signal for the tuner 2, thereby outputting the program of the
specified genre to the CRT 24 (step 48).
If there are a plurality of programs of the specified genre (step 47), a
message (OTHER) as shown on the CRT 24 of FIG. 3 is displayed. This
"OTHER" message is generated by the character generator 20 connected to
the microcomputer and displayed on the CRT 24 when the switch 6 is
switched by the microcomputer 13. This message tells the user that a
sports program is being broadcast on other channels. This message
disappears after a predetermined period of time. If a plurality of sports
programs are being broadcast, the microcomputer 13 checks the frequency
memory 19 connected thereto (step 49) and selects a channel having the
highest reception frequency (step 50). The frequency memory 19 stores
reception frequency data about programs viewed in the past, classified by
day of the week and time zone, or period. If the sports program first
displayed on the CRT is not a desired program, the user presses the same
genre button ("Sports" in this case) for example again (step 51) to select
a program having a second higher reception frequency. If programs of the
specified genre are being broadcast on three channels for example, the
operation of step 51 can be repeated twice (steps 52, 53). It should be
noted that in the preferred embodiment, this channel switching operation
can be performed only while the above-mentioned message is on display
since such display correlates to the genre select mode. It should also be
noted that in the preferred embodiment the reception frequency data stored
in the frequency memory 19 can be updated only if a particular program is
selected for some predetermined minimum period of time, for example, 10
minutes or more.
If no sports program is being broadcast when a genre button ("Sports" for
example) on the remote controller is pressed, it is determined whether a
sports program will be broadcast within a predetermined upcoming period of
time, for example, within the next several hours (step 54). This
determination is made based on the EDS data of each channel read and
stored by the microcomputer 13. The EDS provides information about program
broadcasting schedule upcoming for the next several hours. If it is
determined that no sports program will be broadcast within the next
several hours, a message indicating that no program of the specified genre
is scheduled for broadcasting is displayed (step 55).
If a sports program will be broadcast within, for example, the next several
hours, the EDS data determined by the microcomputer 13 is supplied to the
decoder 22 to be decoded. At generally the same time, a decode on/off
switch 23 is turned on by the microcomputer, upon which the decoded data
is supplied to the adder 25. An output of the adder 25 is outputted to the
CRT 24 via the switch 6o An example of a screen of the data displayed on
the CRT 24 is shown in FIG. 4. As seen from FIG. 4, if there is only one
program that belongs to the specified genre, the CRT 24 displays a message
telling how many minutes (or hours) from now the program will be broadcast
(step 57). If programs that belong to the specified genre are scheduled
for broadcasting on a plurality of channels (step 56), the contents of the
frequency memory are checked (step 65) and these channels are sequentially
displayed, from a channel having the highest past reception frequency to a
channel having the lowest past reception frequency, each time the genre
button is pressed (steps 66, 68). When a desired program is displayed, the
user presses the timer reservation button 66 for setting timer reservation
to be described later (step 67). In this example, the data coming via the
EDS is decoded and the decoded data is displayed on the CRT 24. It will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that the microcomputer includes
circuitry for reading the EDS data and causing the character generator to
display a message on the CRT such as shown in FIG. 4.
Now, the setting of timer reservation will be described with reference to
FIGS. 5 and 6. The setting of timer reservation is performed in the case
where no program of the specified genre is found being broadcast by the
above-mentioned genre-specified tune-in operation and a program of the
specified genre is found to be broadcast within several hours. In this
case, the above-mentioned message setting out how hours, minutes or
seconds (or in the alternative, the actual time) until a program of the
selected genre starts to be broadcast is displayed (step 57) and it is
determined whether the program is to be timer-reserved or not (step 58).
To timer-reserve the program identified to be broadcast, the user presses
the timer reservation button on the remote controller. This stores
broadcast start and end times and a corresponding channel number into the
reservation memory 14 (step 59), completing the timer reservation
operation. The LED 18 disposed on the television receiver to indicate that
timer reservation is on is turned on, upon which the television receiver
enters a standby state (step 60). Then, the broadcast start time stored in
the reservation memory 14 is compared with a time of the clock 16 (step
61). If a match is found, the power to the television receiver is turned
on and the stored channel is tuned in (step 62). After a certain time, the
stored broadcast end time is compared with a time of the clock 16 (step
63). If a match is found, the power to the television receiver is turned
off.
If programs of the specified genre are scheduled for broadcasting on a
plurality of channels, the frequency memory 19 is checked as mentioned
above (step 65) and the broadcast schedule of a channel having the highest
reception frequency is displayed first (step 66). In this case, too, a
message such as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, telling the user that
programs of the specified genre are also scheduled to be broadcast on
other channels. Each time the user presses the same genre button, a
broadcast schedule on a channel having a lower reception frequency is
displayed. If a program to be timer-reserved is found while pressing the
genre button, the user then presses the timer reservation button 35 (step
67). This stores program start and end times and a corresponding channel
number into the reservation memory 14 (step 59), completing the timer
reservation operation. Subsequent operations are the same as those
mentioned above. If no timer reservation is made, it is determined in step
68 whether a broadcast schedule on a channel having the lowest reception
frequency has been displayed or not. If such a broadcast schedule has been
displayed, the processing terminates. If there is a broadcast schedule on
a channel having a still lower reception frequency, the processing of step
66 and so on is repeated.
In the above-mentioned case, programs scheduled for broadcasting include a
program of a genre specified by the user and the user determines whether
the desired program is to be timer-reserved or not. It will be apparent
that the timer reservation may be made automatically. Also, in the
above-mentioned case, the clock 16 is used to compare program start and
end times stored in the reservation memory 14 with times of the clock 16.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the comparison may be
made by using time information sent with the EDS data. It will also be
apparent that, if there is a change in a broadcasting time due to some
change in the reserved program, the power to the television set may be
turned on at the predetermined program start time stored in the
reservation memory 14, thereby providing recognition that the broadcasting
time has changed by comparing a genre of the program currently broadcast
with a genre stored in the reservation memory 14. In this case, a message
indicating the change in the program broadcast time may be displayed.
Further, when a program start time stored in the reservation memory 14 has
been reached, a genre of a stored program is compared with a genre of the
currently broadcast program. If a match is found, the power to the
television receiver is turned on; if no match is found, the comparison is
repeated until a match is found, upon which the power is turned on. This
allows the user to view a specified program if a change occurred in the
broadcasting time of the program.
In the above-mentioned case, the EDS data is read when a genre button on
the remote controller 11 is operated. It will be apparent that an EDS data
memory 17 may be provided on the microcomputer 13. In such a case, when
the television receiver is in the standby state, the EDS data of each
channel is always read by the microcomputer 13 to be stored in the EDS
data memory 17. This allows the microcomputer to readily read the EDS data
of each channel when the television receiver is powered on.
In what follows, a method of registering a new genre in an unused genre
button will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 shows a
genre registration screen as displayed on the CRT 24. FIG. 8 is a
flowchart indicating an operation for registering a new genre in the
remote controller.
Referring to FIG. 8, when the registration button 36 is pressed (step 81),
a main menu screen 71 of the genre registration screen (FIG. 7) is
displayed on the CRT 24 (step 82). The user moves a cursor 73 to a desired
genre by pressing a corresponding genre button 33 or the cursor button 37.
When the cursor is positioned to the desired genre, the user presses the
enter button 38. Thus, the desired genre (one of genres 0 through 9)
displayed on the main menu 71 is selected (in this case, genre 6 "Sports"
is selected for example). In step 83, it is determined whether a
particular genre has been selected or not.
When one genre has been selected, a sub menu screen 72 is displayed on the
CRT 24. At the same time, the cursor 73 in the main menu screen moves into
the sub menu screen 72 as a cursor 74 (step 84). On the sub menu screen
72, names of unregistered genres are displayed. The user selects one of
these genres in the same manner as mentioned above (step 85).
When the user selects one of the genres ("Tennis" for example) in the sub
menu screen, "Tennis" is displayed in the above-selected genre 6 of the
main menu screen (step 86). In step 87, it is determined whether the enter
button has been pressed or not. If the enter button has not been pressed
within a predetermined period of time, "Tennis" in the main menu screen is
erased and the cursor 73 moves into the sub menu screen 72 as the cursor
74 (step 84). If the enter button has been pressed, the information stored
in the registration memory 15 is updated (step 88). It should be noted
that the registration memory 15 stores the relationship between the code
signal and genre received from the remote controller 11.
In what follows, an operation for registering a title name of a program as
a genre will be | | |
