Patent Application
20060070098
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-281847, filed Sep. 28, 2004, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a broadcast data receiver and accompanying broadcast data receiving method compatible with a broadcast system which multiplexes and distributes, for example, Electronic Program Guide (EPG) broadcast data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, digital television broadcasting has been advancing very rapidly. For example, a presently known digital television broadcasting fee-based service scrambles (encrypts) the broadcast signal itself, such as disclosed in the conventional prior art of Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Application No. 2004-096394 titled “TELEVISION RECEPTION SYSTEM, TELEVISION RECEIVER AND MOBILE TERMINAL.” The encryption cancellation data for descrambling (decrypting) the data stream is stored on a credit card-sized card furnished from the subscription-based pay TV service provider in advance. This card is installed into the subscriber's TV set-top box containing a tuner, which permits the party under contract to watch and/or record decrypted broadcasts (telecasts).
On the other hand, broadcast reception services have been considered for terrestrial wave digital broadcasting systems to television receivers of all display sizes including compact electronic apparatus, such as a cellular phone.
As for these broadcast reception services, although assumed that service can be received without a subscriber having to basically initiate a particular subscription request, only real-time reception is provided based on a portion of the broadcast contents (programs). Also, the case which prohibits recording and/or duplication because of copyright protection has been considered.
However, in the delivery method of the program guide data furnished by the present broadcast reception services, the subscriber is shown a display of the program guide data for each broadcast contents to which copyright protection is appended. Consequently, this presents subscribers with the prospective problem of not being able to comprehend which programs are either recording prohibited or duplication prohibited.
The present invention has been made in view of the problem mentioned above. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast data receiver and accompanying broadcast data receiving method which enhances user-friendliness even if broadcast contents are received which have reception and copy restrictions (recording/duplication).
In order to solve this problem, a broadcast data receiver according to claim 1 comprises the following structure of a broadcast content reception section for receiving broadcast contents contained in a broadcast signal; a program guide reception section for receiving Electronic Program Guide data with control information appended which relates to recording for each broadcast contents name; a display section for displaying the Electronic Program Guide data received by the program guide reception section; a first recording section connected more removably attachable than the receiver main body; a first judgment section for judging whether or not the first recording section has been connected to the receiver to provide a judgment result; and a first display changing section for changing display modes of the Electronic Program Guide data displayed in the display section corresponding to the judgment result by the first judgment section.
In order to solve this problem, a broadcast data receiving method according to claim 11 constitutes the following steps. A broadcast contents reception step for receiving broadcast contents contained in a broadcast signal; a program guide reception step for receiving Electronic Program Guide data with control information appended which relates to recording for each broadcast contents name; a first judgment step for judging whether or not an external recording medium has been connected to provide a judgment result; and a first display changing step for changing display modes of the Electronic Program Guide data displayed in a display section corresponding to the judgment result by the first judgment step.
Further, in order to solve this problem, a broadcast data receiver according to claim 20 comprises the following configuration. A broadcast content reception means for receiving broadcast contents contained in a broadcast signal; a program guide reception means for receiving Electronic Program Guide data with control information appended which relates to recording for each broadcast contents name; a display means for displaying the Electronic Program Guide data received by the program guide reception means; a first recording means connected more removably attachable than the receiver main body; a first judgment means for judging whether or not the first recording means has been connected to the receiver TO PROVIDE A JUDGMENT RESULT; and a first display changing means for changing display modes of the Electronic Program Guide data displayed in the display means corresponding to the judgment result of the first judgment means.
The above and further objects and novel features of the present invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
A tuner 12 receives BS (broadcast satellite)/terrestrial digital television broadcasts via an antenna 13 by wireless.
An OFDM demodulation section 14 performs demodulation of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) signals using the transmission technology of terrestrial digital television broadcasting.
An image decoding section 15 decodes the video signal demodulated by the OFDM demodulation section 14. An audio decoding section 16 decodes the audio signal demodulated by the OFDM demodulation section 14.
A data decoding section 17 decodes the data received by terrestrial digital television broadcasting. The television program guide data (hereinafter, denoted as “electronic program guide” or “EPG” for convenience) is also included in this data.
A ROM 20 stores various types of programs executed by a CPU 22. A RAM 21 stores E-mail data, an address book, the above-mentioned television program guide data, etc.
The CPU 22 executes the above-mentioned programs including a timing section 221 which clocks the current time and controls operation of each section of this apparatus.
Particularly, in the preferred embodiment, the operation judges whether or not an SD card 41 has been installed, which is an external recording medium described later.
Also, when setting the video recording reservation program selected from the electronic program guide as a video recording reservation and an SD card 41 is not installed, the display of the electronic program guide is controlled so that copy prohibited programs cannot be selected from among the programs listed in the above-mentioned program guide data.
Besides, when the program set as a recording reservation is a copy prohibited program, the CPU 22 encrypts the recorded program.
Furthermore, when an SD card 41 is not installed at the recording time of the program set as a recording reservation, the CPU 22 records the encrypted program in the RAM 21. Conversely, when an SD card 41 is installed, the encrypted program is recorded in the SD card 41.
A display driver 23 has a buffer corresponding to the display area of a display section 24 and drives the display section 24. The display section 24 may be composed of a 2.7 inch (240×428 dots) TFT color liquid crystal display (resolution of QVGA or HVGA) with video displayed in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
A key input section 25 is composed of various types of function keys, a ten-key pad, etc. A microphone 26 performs audio input.
A speaker 27 outputs audio for voice telephone calls, audio during television reception, etc.
A memory card slot 40 is furnished for installing (inserting) recording media, such as, an SD card 41, etc.
A power supply control section 42 normally supplies electrical power from a secondary battery cell 44 to each section. However, when an AC adapter 43 is connected, charge control of the above-mentioned secondary battery cell 44 is performed and the electrical power from a commercial power source is supplied to each section via the AC adapter 43.
Next,
An SD card 41 has a system area 411, a concealment area 412 and a data area 413. The system area 411 contains the media key which is the characteristic identification information of the card itself. The concealment area 412 contains the copyright protection key of the programs (contents) sponsored by terrestrial digital television broadcasting.
Additionally, the data area 413 includes the media key and the copyright protection key of the contents encrypted by these keys.
Next,
The RAM 21 has a system area 211, a concealment area 212 and a data area 213. The system area 211 contains data essential for operation of the terrestrial digital television receiver 1. The concealment area 212 contains the copyright protection key of the programs (contents) sponsored by terrestrial digital television broadcasting. The data area 213 contains recorded television program contents 214 and recording reservation data 215. From among the recorded television program contents 214, unencrypted data can be copied to an SD card 41 as well as copy prohibited data which remains encrypted. Additionally, the video recording reservation data 215 is composed of the date, channel, recording time slot, program name and the electronic program guide identification code. The letter “S” in
Next, the operation of the preferred embodiment mentioned above will be explained.
B-1. Video Recording Reservation Operation
Initially, operation of the terrestrial digital television receiver 1 when performing a video recording reservation according to the preferred embodiment will be explained.
Here,
Besides,
First, in the terrestrial digital television receiver 1, while a television program of a selected channel is being received, as shown in
In the television program reception screen, an EPG function key 251 for switching to display the program guide and a menu function key 252 for switching to display the menu screen described later are shown.
The menu function key 252 itself does not have a function as a button, but can be selected by depressing a function key of the key input section 25 that is near this button.
In this reception screen, the operation judges whether or not the EPG function key 251 has been depressed (Step S12) and, if not depressed, the operation judges whether or not the menu function key has been depressed (Step S14).
Then, if neither of these function keys have been depressed, the operation reverts to Step S10 and reception of a television program continues.
On the other hand, when the EPG function key 251 is depressed, the operation judges whether or not an SD card 41 has been installed (removably attachable) (Step S16).
When an SD card 41 has been installed, as shown in
In the EPG program guide of
In either of the above-situations, the EPG screen displays a TV function key 253 for returning to the reception screen of a television program and the menu function key 252 for switching to display the menu screen described later.
The corresponding soft button can be selected by depressing a predetermined function key of the key input section 25.
In the EPG screen, the operation judges whether or not the TV function key 253 has been depressed (Step S22) and, if not depressed, the operation judges whether or not the menu function key 252 has been depressed (Step S24).
Then, if neither of these function keys have been depressed, the operation reverts to Step S16 and display of the EPG screen for either
Conversely, when the TV function key 253 is depressed, the operation reverts to Step S10 and returns to the reception screen of a television program as shown in
Further, when the menu function key 252 has been depressed, a menu selection screen as seen in
In this menu selection screen, the subscriber can select any of the items of recording reservation, recording change and basic settings. These correspond to the ten-key pad numbers “1”, “2” and “3” of the key input section 25, respectively.
Also, in this menu selection screen, the TV function key 253 for returning to the reception screen of a television program and a return function key 254 for returning the EPG screen are displayed.
In the menu selection screen, the operation judges whether or not one of the above assigned numbers of the ten-key pad has been depressed (Step S28). When other than a ten-key pad number is depressed, namely, in the case of either of the TV function key 253 or the return function key 254, the operation advances to processing corresponding to the function key depressed, respectively (Step S30).
On the other hand, when one of the above assigned numbers of the ten-key pad is depressed, the operation judges whether or not the recording reservation, namely, the number “1” key, has been depressed (Step S32).
When other than recording reservation is selected, the operation advances to the corresponding processing of the selected item (Step S34).
Correspondingly, when recording reservation is selected, as seen in
This program selection EPG screen as mentioned above, depending on the existence of an installed SD card 41, the EPG screen of
The user selects a program to record from the EPG screen by operating a cursor menu key (omitted from diagram) of the key input section 25 in four-directions (cross type key) (Step S38).
At this stage, when an SD card 41 is installed, the user can select optional programs from among all the programs displayed on the EPG screen. However, when an SD card 41 is not installed, the program (blurred display 300) of a copy prohibited program cannot be selected.
Also, in the above-mentioned program selection EPG screen, the TV function key 253 for returning to the reception screen of a television program, a reservation function key 255 for setting a video recording reservation of a selected television program and the return function key 254 for returning the EPG screen are displayed.
In the program selection EPG screen, the operation judges whether or not the reservation function key 255 has been depressed (Step S40). When other than the reservation function key 255 is depressed, namely, in the case of either of the TV function key 253 or the return function key 254, the operation advances to processing corresponding to the function key depressed, respectively (Step S42).
Here, because this is not related to the essence of the present invention other than reservation, further explanation is omitted.
On the other hand, when the reservation function key 255 is selected, the recording reservation day & time slot, channel, program content and the EPG program code are stored in the data area 213 of the RAM 21 as recording reservation data 215 (Step S44).
Also, the operation judges whether or not the television program of the recording reservation is a copy prohibited program (Step S46). When judged a copy prohibited program, the recording will be annotated with a flag “S” which indicates the applicable program of the recording reservation data 215 can only be recorded with an SD card 41 (Step S48).
Next, as shown in
B-2 Recording Operation
Next, the operation of the terrestrial digital television receiver 1 when performing a video recording according to the preferred embodiment will be explained.
Here,
The CPU 22 monitors the recording reservation data 215 at predetermined time intervals based on the current time clocked by the timing section 221. The operation judges whether or not the current time constitutes the start recording time. When the start recording time arrives, a recording operation will be executed according to the flow chart shown in
Initially, in the recording operation, the operation judges whether or not the recording reservation program which has reached recording time is a copy prohibited program (Step S60).
When a recording reservation program is not a copy prohibited program, as shown in
On the other hand, when a recording reservation program is copy prohibited, the operation judges whether or not an SD card 41 is installed (Step S64). If an SD card 41 is not installed, as shown in
In this case, the recorded program can be transferred to an SD card 41 afterwards by a move function (upon copying the recorded file from the main body to a recording medium, the recorded file of the main body side is erased).
On the other hand, when an SD card 41 is installed, as shown in
According to the first preferred embodiment mentioned above, when an SD card is not installed at the time of a recording reservation, reservation of a copy prohibited program is not permitted. In this manner, while eliminating wasteful operation and dealing with copy restrictions, this method enhances user-friendliness.
Besides, when an SD card is not installed at the time of a video recording, a copy prohibited program is encrypted and recorded in the main body which can only be copied one time to an external recording medium using a move function. Thus, this method is able to restrict copying to an external recording medium and practicable in coping with copy restrictions.
Additionally, in the preferred embodiment described above, although a terrestrial television receiver is explained, specifically, the present invention may be applied to a stationary television receiver, an in-vehicle television receiver and a cellular phone with a television receiving function.
Also, in the preferred embodiment, although the television program guide data (EPG data) is received via the antenna 13, the wireless communication section 10, the tuner 12, OFDM demodulation section 14 and the data decoding section 17, the present invention is not limited to this. The EPG data may be provided by a wireless communication service company and received via the antenna 11 and the wireless communication section 10.
Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment mentioned above, an SD card is explained as the external recording medium. However, not only can an SD card be used, but other recording medium as well, for example, Compact Flash (registered trademark) memory card, MultiMedia Card (MMC), etc.
Finally, in the preferred embodiment above, although copy restrictions are dealt with by discriminating whether or not an SD card has been installed, the present invention is not restricted to this. It may also be possible to deal with copy restrictions discriminating the external recording medium by a predetermined format or having a copy limitation function.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it is intended that the invention be not limited by any of the details of the description therein but includes all the embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-281847 | Sep 2004 | JP | national |
