BROADCAST RECEIVING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING BROADCAST RECEIVING APPARATUS

Abstract

A broadcast receiving apparatus is equipped with a plurality of tuners that can respectively receive a control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel. A channel selection action of each tuner, display processing for a display unit, and recording processing for a storage unit are controlled based on a channel selection state of each tuner and the control signal. Furthermore, a tuner to select a channel designated by the channel designation information is determined based on a state of use of each tuner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a digital broadcast receiving system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating an integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a display data producing section illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A is an illustration of an example of a multi-screen display.

FIG. 4B is another illustration of an example of a multi-screen display.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for analyzing a transmission and multiplexing configuration control (TMCC) signal according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 7A through 7F are illustrations of exemplary screens displayed in emergency warning broadcast reception processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a tuner state-of-use identifying procedure according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit;a storage unit configured to store installation location information of the broadcast receiving apparatus;an acquisition unit configured to obtain a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;a determination unit configured to determine a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners; anda control unit configured to control a channel selection action of each of the plurality of tuners and display processing for the display unit or recording processing for the storage unit based on the control signal obtained by the acquisition unit and a determination result obtained by the determination unit,wherein, when the region information corresponds to the installation location information, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by the first tuner and displayed on the display unit and is equal to a channel received by the second tuner, a program of the channel received by the first tuner is recorded on the storage unit.

2. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit;a storage unit configured to store installation location information of the broadcast receiving apparatus;an acquisition unit configured to obtain a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;a determination unit configured to determine a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners; anda control unit configured to control a channel selection action of each of the plurality of tuners and display processing for the display unit or recording processing for the storage unit based on the control signal obtained by the acquisition unit and a determination result obtained by the determination unit,wherein, when the region information corresponds to the installation location information, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by the first tuner and displayed on the display unit and is different from a channel received by the second tuner, the second tuner selects the channel designated by the channel designation information and a program of the channel received by the first tuner is recorded on the storage unit.

3. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit;a storage unit configured to store installation location information of the broadcast receiving apparatus;an acquisition unit configured to obtain a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;a determination unit configured to determine a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners;a checking unit configured to check a state of use of each of the plurality of tuners; anda control unit configured to cause one of the plurality of tuners to receive a broadcast program of a channel designated by the channel designation information to display the received broadcast program on the display unit based on the control signal obtained by the acquisition unit, a determination result obtained by the determination unit, and a checking result obtained by the checking unit,wherein, if the channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by each of the first and second tuners, the control unit selects a tuner to receive the channel designated by the channel designation information based on the state of use of the first tuner and/or the second tuner.

4. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, if the checking unit determines that the second tuner is not being used and will not be used for a predetermined period of time, the second tuner selects the channel designated by the channel designation information.

5. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, if the checking unit determines that the second tuner is being used or will be used within a predetermined period of time, the checking unit checks a state of use of the first tuner.

6. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, if the checking unit determines that the first tuner is being used or will be used within a predetermined period of time, the second tuner selects the channel designated by the channel designation information.

7. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, if the checking unit determines that the first tuner is being used and a program of a channel received by the first tuner is displayed on the display unit, the program of the channel received by the first tuner is recorded on the storage unit.

8. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, if the checking unit determines that the first tuner is not being used and will not be used for a predetermined period of time, the first tuner selects the channel designated by the channel designation information.

9. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving apparatus holding installation location information thereof and including a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit, the method comprising: obtaining a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;determining a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners;controlling a channel selection action of each of the plurality of tuners and display processing for the display unit or recording processing for the storage unit based on the control signal and a determination result of the channel selection state; andwhen the region information corresponds to the installation location information, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by the first tuner and displayed on the display unit and is equal to a channel received by the second tuner, a program of the channel received by the first tuner is recorded on the storage unit.

10. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving apparatus holding installation location information thereof and including a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit, the method comprising: obtaining a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;determining a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners;controlling a channel selection action of each of the plurality of tuners and display processing for the display unit or recording processing for the storage unit based on the control signal and a determination result of the channel selection state; andwhen the region information corresponds to the installation location information, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by the first tuner and displayed on the display unit and is different from a channel received by the second tuner, the second tuner selects the channel designated by the channel designation information and a program of the channel received by the first tuner is recorded on the storage unit.

11. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving apparatus holding installation location information thereof and including a plurality of tuners, including first and second tuners, capable of simultaneously receiving broadcast waves of plural channels to display a program of a received channel on a display unit or to record a program of a received channel on a storage unit, the method comprising: obtaining a control signal, the control signal including region information identifying a region and channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel;determining a channel selection state of each of the plurality of tuners;checking a state of use of each of the plurality of tuners;causing one of the plurality of tuners to receive a broadcast program of a channel designated by the channel designation information to display the received broadcast program on the display unit based on the control signal, a determination result of the channel selection state, and a checking result of the state of use; andwherein, if the channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel received by each of the first and second tuners, selecting a tuner to receive the channel designated by the channel designation information based on the state of use of the first tuner and/or the second tuner.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising causing the second tuner to select the channel designated by the channel designation information if it is determined that the second tuner is not being used and will not be used for a predetermined period of time.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising checking a state of use of the first tuner if it is determined that the second tuner is being used or will be used within a predetermined period of time.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising causing the second tuner to select the channel designated by the channel designation information if it is determined that the first tuner is being used or will be used within a predetermined period of time.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising recording a program of a channel received by the first tuner if it is determined that the first tuner is being used and the program of the channel received by the first tuner is displayed on the display unit.

16. The method according to claim 13, further comprising causing the first tuner to select the channel designated by the channel designation information if it is determined that the first tuner is not being used and will not be used for a predetermined period of time.

17. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: first and second tuners capable of receiving broadcast waves, the first and second tuners being configured to simultaneously receive plural channels to simultaneously display video images of the respective received channels on a display unit;a setting unit configured to define a display setting for causing a video image of a channel received by one of the first and second tuners to be displayed as a main screen on the display unit and causing a video image of a channel received by the other tuner to be displayed as a sub screen on the display unit;an acquisition unit configured to obtain channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel from a control signal received by each of the first and second tuners;a determination unit configured to determine a channel selection state of each of the first and second tuners; anda control unit configured to, based on the channel designation information obtained by the acquisition unit, the display setting defined by the setting unit, and a determination result obtained by the determination unit, determine, among the first and second tuners, a tuner to be used to receive a program broadcast channel designated by the channel designation information.

18. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 17, wherein, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel being received by the first tuner and a video image of the channel being received by the first tuner is set to be displayed as the main screen, the control unit causes the channel designated by the channel designation information to be received by the second tuner.

19. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 18, wherein, in response to determining that the second tuner is used to receive a channel designated by the channel designation information, the control unit executes control for changing a display mode of a video image of the channel received by the second tuner from a sub screen display mode to a full screen display mode.

20. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 19, wherein, in response to changing a display mode of a video image of the channel received by the second tuner from the sub screen display mode to the full screen display mode, the control unit executes control for storing a video image of the channel being received by the first tuner in a storage unit.

21. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving apparatus including first and second tuners capable of receiving broadcast waves, the first and second tuners being configured to simultaneously receive plural channels to simultaneously display video images of the respective received channels on a display unit, the method comprising: defining a display setting for causing a video image of a channel received by one of the first and second tuners to be displayed as a main screen on the display unit and causing a video image of a channel received by the other tuner to be displayed as a sub screen on the display unit;obtaining channel designation information designating a program broadcast channel from a control signal received by each of the first and second tuners;determining a channel selection state of each of the first and second tuners; andbased on the obtained channel designation information, the display setting, and a determination result of the channel selection state, determining, among the first and second tuners, a tuner to be used to receive a program broadcast channel designated by the channel designation information.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising, if a channel designated by the channel designation information is different from a channel being received by the first tuner and a video image of the channel being received by the first tuner is set to be displayed as the main screen, causing the channel designated by the channel designation information to be received by the second tuner.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising, in response to determining that the second tuner is used to receive a channel designated by the channel designation information, changing a display mode of a video image of the channel received by the second tuner from a sub screen display mode to a full screen display mode.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising, in response to changing a display mode of a video image of the channel received by the second tuner from the sub screen display mode to the full screen display mode, storing a video image of the channel being received by the first tuner in a storage unit.