Broadcast receiver

Abstract

A broadcast receiver includes a first video signal selector which outputs a video signal of a main-picture; a second video signal selector which outputs a video signal of a sub-picture; a first audio signal selector which outputs an audio signal of the main-picture; a second audio signal selector which outputs an audio signal of the sub-picture; a first video processor which generates a third video signal from the video signals of the main-picture and/or sub-picture; a feature quantity generator which generates a feature quantity of the audio signal of the sub-picture in accordance with a result of comparison between data corresponding to the audio signal of the sub-picture and sound class model data created beforehand; a determination processor which determines a scene as a specified scene; and a controller which controls the whole components in accordance with the specified scene.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast receiver according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of the pictures displayed in the image display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of operation keys on the remote controller shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the feature detector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of a highlight level in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams for describing the processing by the feature detector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing threshold change processing in a broadcast receiver according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of the pictures displayed by a broadcast receiver according to the third embodiment of the present invention when a highlight scene is detected;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the pictures displayed by a broadcast receiver according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is an external view of a broadcast receiver according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A broadcast receiver comprising: a first video signal selector which receives a plurality of input video signals and outputs any of the plurality of input video signals as a video signal of a main-picture;a second video signal selector which receives the plurality of input video signals and outputs any of the plurality of video signals as a video signal of a sub-picture;a first audio signal selector which receives a plurality of input audio signals and outputs any of the plurality of input audio signals as an audio signal of the main-picture;a second audio signal selector which receives the plurality of input audio signals and outputs any of the plurality of input audio signals as an audio signal of the sub-picture;a first video processor which generates a third video signal by using at least one of the video signal of the main-picture output from the first video signal selector and the video signal of the sub-picture output from the second video signal selector;a feature quantity generator which generates a feature quantity of the audio signal of the sub-picture output from the second audio signal selector in accordance with a result of comparison between data corresponding to the audio signal of the sub-picture and sound class model data created beforehand in accordance with collected known scenes;a determination processor which determines a scene as a specified scene when the feature quantity exceeds a predetermined threshold; anda controller which controls the first video signal selector, the second video signal selector, the first audio signal selector, the second audio signal selector, and the first video processor, in accordance with the specified scene detected by the determination processor.

2. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the feature quantity generator includes: an analog-digital converter which converts the audio signal of the sub-picture to a digital signal;an orthogonal transform processor which performs an orthogonal transform of the digital signal in a time domain output from the analog-digital converter to data of a frequency domain;a model data storage which holds a known coefficient vector collected and modeled from scenes having a desired coefficient vector; anda likelihood comparison processor which monitors a coefficient value obtained from an orthogonal transform performed by the orthogonal transform processor and outputs a frequency of occurrence of a period having likelihood higher than a predetermined level with respect to the known coefficient vector held in the model data storage, as the feature quantity.

3. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: a silence detector which detects a silence period from the audio signal of the sub-picture;the determination processor detecting a scene having the feature quantity exceeding the predetermined threshold during a predetermined period after a start time of the silence period detected by the silence detector except the invalid period, as the specified scene.

4. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: a video display device which displays a picture based on the third video signal generated by the first video processor; andan audio output device which outputs sound based on the audio signal of the main-picture output from the first audio signal selector.

5. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: a second video processor which generates a fourth video signal for displaying other video data on the video signal generated by the first video processor.

6. The broadcast receiver according to claim 5, wherein the second video processor outputs a signal for displaying a question asking whether to switch the main-picture and the sub-picture, in combination with the video signal output from the first video processor when the specified scene is detected.

7. The broadcast receiver according to claim 5, wherein the second video processor outputs a signal for displaying a value varied with increase or decrease in the feature quantity, in combination with the video signal output from the first video processor.

8. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: a notification device which notifies a viewer that the specified scene has been detected.

9. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the first video signal selector and the second video signal selector so that the main-picture and the sub-picture are automatically switched when the specified scene is detected.

10. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the first video signal selector and the second video signal selector to switch the main-picture and the sub-picture after an instruction is given by an operation of a user when the specified scene is detected.

11. The broadcast receiver according to claim 9, further comprising: a canceller which restores states before an automatic changeover of the main-picture and the sub-picture as requested by an operation of the user after the main-picture and the sub-picture are automatically switched;wherein the controller changes the predetermined threshold used by the determination processor in accordance with a period from when the main-picture and the sub-picture are switched by the automatic changeover until the canceller restores the states before the automatic changeover between the main-picture and the sub-picture.

12. The broadcast receiver according to claim 11, wherein the controller returns the changed threshold to the level before the change after a lapse of a predetermined time.