This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-096704, filed Apr. 20, 2012; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to an electronic apparatus and an electronic program guide displaying method.
At present, electronic program guides (EPG: Electronic Program Guide) are widely used to perform programmed recording and programmed viewing of TV programs.
When an electronic program guide is displayed by a machine in which a touch panel is provided on a display panel, it is required to provide a suitable operation method for changing the display contents of a program table in the electronic program guide.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate the embodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In general, according to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus comprises a display, an detector, a receiver, a generating module, and a display controller.
The detector is configured to detect an operation position on the display. The receiver is configured to receive electronic program guide data comprising information of first and second programs, the first programs being broadcasted and the second programs being not yet broadcasted. The generating module is configured to generate program table data based on the electronic program guide data. The display controller is configured to display, on the display, an electronic program guide and a date display area, the electronic program guide comprising a program table including information of programs broadcasted in a time period from a first time of a first date to a second time after the first time of the first date, the date display area comprising date sections corresponding to dates of programs. The display controller is configured to display, in the program table, information of programs broadcasted in a time period from the first time of a second date to the second time of the second date, if a tapping operation is detected on the second date section.
First, a structure of an electronic apparatus according to the present embodiment will be explained hereinafter with reference to
The computer 10 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a bridge circuit 102, a main memory 103, a graphics controller (GPU) 105, a sound controller 106, a BIOS-ROM 107, a solid state drive (SSD) 109, a BT (Bluetooth®) module 110, a card slot 111, a wireless LAN controller 112, an embedded controller (EC) 113, an EEPROM 114, a USB connector 13, the touch screen display 17, and a video memory (VRAM) 105A, and the like.
The CPU 101 is a processor which controls operations of the modules in the computer 10. The CPU 101 executes an operating system (OS) 201 and various application programs, which are loaded from the SSD 109 into the main memory 103. The application programs include a television viewing program 202.
The television viewing program 202 executes live reproduction processing for viewing broadcasting program data which is received by a TV tuner 30, and processing for displaying an electronic program guide based on electronic program data which is received by the TV tuner 30.
It is supposed that the OS 201 is, for example, Android® OS in the present embodiment. Specifically, suppose that a system using Android® OS is used, and that the computer 10 is equipped with Android® OS. In the present embodiment, the computer 10 may be equipped with an OS other than Android® OS as the OS 201. Specifically, since the system explained in the present embodiment is applicable to a system equipped with another OS, the system explained in the present embodiment is applicable to computer 10 which is equipped with an OS other than Android® OS.
The CPU 101 also executes a BIOS (basic input/output system) which is stored in the BIOS-ROM 107. The BIOS is a program configured to control hardware.
The bridge circuit 102 is a bridge device which connects a local bus of the CPU 101 with each device on a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and each device on an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus. The bridge circuit 102 includes a serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) controller configured to control the SSD 109. The bridge circuit 102 also has a function of executing communication with the sound controller 106. The bridge circuit 102 also has a function of executing communication with the GPU 105 through a serial bus of the PCI EXPRESS standard.
The GPU 105 is a display controller which controls an LCD 17A that is used as a display monitor of the computer 10. Image signals (also referred to as display signals) which are generated by the GPU 105 are transmitted to the LCD 17A.
The sound controller 106 is a sound source device, and outputs audio data to be reproduced to a speaker 18A and a speaker 18B. The wireless LAN controller 112 is a wireless communication device which executes wireless communication of, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard.
The EC 113 is an embedded controller configured to manage electric power. The EC 113 has a function of turning on/off the computer 10 in response to operation by the user. A power supply circuit 121 generates operation electric power which is to be supplied to the components, by using electric power which is supplied from a battery 122 in the computer 10, or electric power which is supplied from an external power source such as an AC adaptor 123. The power supply circuit 121 also charges the battery 122 by using electric power supplied from the external power source.
A touch panel 17B is integrated into the touch screen display 17, as well as the LCD 17A. The touch panel 17B which is superposed on the LCD 17A includes a sensor and an MCU (Micro controller unit) and the like. When a touching operation is performed on the touch panel 17B, the touched position is detected by the sensor, and the MCU outputs input information which includes the touched position on the touch panel 17B.
As illustrated in
The demultiplexer 301 separates PSI/SI (Program Specific Information/Service Information), video data, and audio data from TS (Transport Stream) packets which are output from the TV tuner 30. The demultiplexer 301 outputs the separated audio data to the audio decoder 302, outputs the separated video data to the video decoder 303, and outputs the separated PSI/SI to the PSI/SI decoder 304.
The audio decoder 302 decodes the audio data, and outputs the decoded audio data to the sound controller 106. The video decoder 303 decodes the video data.
The PSI/SI decoder 304 decodes the PSI/SI. The PSI/SI decoder 304 outputs the decoded data to the EPG display processor 305. The PSI (program specific information) is information for identifying information which is included in each TS packet. The SI (service information) is obtained by expanding the PSI to include program information such as a program name and an electronic program guide (EPG). The EPG display processor 305 prepares EPG display data for displaying an electronic program guide including a program table, based on the program information.
The EPG display processor 305 includes a program table data generator 305A, an EPG display controller 305B, and an operation detector 305C.
The program table data generator 305A generates program table data. The program table data comprises program information formed of information such as the broadcasting start time, the broadcasting time, the broadcasting station, the program title, the performers, and the summary, and program information items are arranged on a two-dimensional plane based on the dates and the broadcasting stations, with one program serving as a cell. Then, the information items of the programs are databased by the program table data generator 305A, such that each program information item can be selected based on the broadcasting date and the broadcasting station. The EPG display controller 305B generates EPG display data for displaying an electronic program guide based on the program table data.
The touch panel 17B outputs information, which includes the touched position on the touch panel 17B, to the television viewing program 202. Based on the input information, the controller 306 detects a user operation, and one of the video decoder 303 and the EPG display processor 305 requests output of the display data to the graphic controller 105, in accordance with the detection result.
When the EPG display processor 305 outputs EPG display data to the graphics controller 105, input information from the touch panel 17B is supplied to the operation detector 305C.
The operation detector 305C detects an operated position and an operation type, based on the input information which includes the touched position on the touch panel 17B. The operation type includes a touching operation, tapping operation, sliding operation, and pinching operation (pinch-in operation and pinch-out operation). The touching operation is an operation of touching the display. The tapping operation is an operation of a user touching the screen by a finger and thereafter separating the finger from the screen. The sliding operation is an operation of a user moving the finger which is touching the screen in a target direction while the finger is in contact with the screen.
The operation detector 305C detects that a touching operation is performed on the screen, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B. The EPG display processor 305 detects a user operation (such as a tapping operation and sliding operation), based on the input information from the touch panel 17B after the touching operation is detected. In other words, the EPG display processor 305 detects a user operation (such as a tapping operation and sliding operation), based on a change of the input information from the touch panel 17B.
A tapping operation or sliding operation is performed on a date bar 440, and thereby the EPG display controller 305B prepares EPG display data for changing or scrolling the display contents of a program table described later.
The electronic program guide 400 includes a program table 401, date 410, a time display bar 420, a broadcasting station display bar 430, and date bar 440.
The program table 401 is displayed in the center of the electronic program guide 400. The date 410 is displayed in an upper right end part of the electronic program guide 400. The time display bar 420 is displayed on the left of the program table 401. The broadcasting station display bar 430 is displayed above the program table 401. The date bar 440 is displayed on the right of the program table 401.
The date 410 indicates the date on which the programs which are displayed in the program table 401 are broadcasted. In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
Broadcasting station sections 431 to 437 are arranged in a column direction in the broadcasting station display bar 430. In the example illustrated in
Date sections 441 to 448 are arranged in the row direction in the date bar 440. The date section 441 corresponds to “10/28 (Sat)”, the date section 442 corresponds to “10/29 (Sun)”, the date section 443 corresponds to “10/30 (Mon)”, the date section 444 corresponds to “10/31 (Tue)”, the date section 445 corresponds to “11/1 (Wed)”, the date section 446 corresponds to “11/2 (Thu)”, the date section 447 corresponds to “11/3 (Fri)”, and the date section 448 corresponds to “11/4 (Sat)”.
A date mark 449 which indicates the date and the time periods of the programs which are displayed at present in the program table 401 is displayed in the date bar 440. In the example illustrated in
(Tapping Operation)
When the user performs a tapping operation on the date section 445 which corresponds to the date “November 1 (Wed)”, information of programs which are broadcasted by the seven broadcasting stations “0011”, “0021”, “0041”, “0051”, “0061”, “0071” and “0081” from 3:00 p.m. to 10:59 p.m. on November 1 (Wed) is displayed in the program table 401, as illustrated in
(Sliding Operation)
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The EPG display processor 305 detects the touched date section and the touched time period region, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B. The EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying information of programs which are broadcasted in a time period that corresponds to the time period region of the date that corresponds to the detected date section.
While a sliding operation is being performed, the EPG display processor 305 successively generates EPG display data which corresponds to the date section and the time period region, such that the display contents of the program table 401 are scrolled in accordance with the date section and the time period region which correspond to the touched position. As illustrated in
When sliding is finished, the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data which corresponds to the position in which sliding is finished. As illustrated in
(Pinching Operation)
By performing a pinching operation on the program table 401 by the user, it is possible to change the width of the time period which is displayed in the program table 401. The pinching operation includes a pinch-in operation and pinch-out operation. The pinch-in operation is an operation of narrowing the distance between the user's two fingers which are in contact with the screen, with the fingers kept in contact with the screen. The pinch-put operation is an operation of broadening the distance between the user's two fingers which are in contact with the screen, with the fingers kept in contact with the screen.
As illustrated in
When a pinch-in operation is performed on the program table 401 for the electronic program guide in the state illustrated in
In addition, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
When a pinch-out operation is performed on the program table 401 for the electronic program guide illustrated in
In addition, as illustrated in
(EPG Display Processor)
Next, operation of the EPG display processor 305 will be explained hereinafter with reference to
When the EPG display processor 305 obtains input information from the touch panel 17B, the EPG display processor 305 determines whether position coordinates included in the input information indicate one position or not (Step B1601). When it is determined that the position coordinates indicate one position (Yes of Step B1601), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the position coordinates are located in the date bar 440 (Step B1602). When it is determined that the position coordinates are located in the date bar 440 (Yes of Step B1602), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a tapping operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1603).
When it is determined that the user operation is a tapping operation (Yes of Step B1603), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying program table 401 which includes information of programs that are broadcasted in the time period, which was displayed before tapping operation, of the date of the date section that corresponds to the position of the tapping operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1604).
When it is determined that the user operation is not a tapping operation (No of Step B1603), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a sliding operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1605). When it is determined that the user operation is a sliding operation (Yes of Step B1605), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 that corresponds to the position at which the sliding operation is started, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1606). The EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 that corresponds to the position at which the sliding operation is started, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1607). The EPG display processor 305 determines whether the sliding operation is finished or not, based on presence/absence of input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1608). When it is determined that the sliding operation is not finished (No of Step B1608), the EPG display processor 305 performs the processing of Step B. When it is determined that the sliding operation is finished (Yes of Step B1608), the EPG display processor 305 outputs the last generated EPG display data to the graphic controller 105.
When it is determined at Step B1601 that the position coordinates do not indicate one position (No of Step B1601), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the position coordinates included in the input information indicate two positions (Step B1609). When it is determined that the position coordinates indicate two positions (Yes of Step B1609), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the two pairs of position coordinates are located in the program table 401, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1610). When it is determined that the two pairs of position coordinates are located in the program table 401, the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a pinch-in operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1611). When it is determined that the user operation is a pinch-in operation (Yes of Step B1611), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 with a changed time period according to the operation quantity of the pinch-in operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1612).
When it is determined that the user operation is not a pinch-in operation (No of Step B1611), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a pinch-out operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1613). When it is determined that the user operation is a pinch-out operation (Yes of Step B1613), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 with a changed time period according to the operation quantity of the pinch-out operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1614).
When a sliding operation is performed, the display contents in the program table 401 may be scrolled in accordance with the moving quantity of the sliding operation, regardless of the date section which is located in the sliding operation starting position.
(Modification)
In the above embodiment, the EPG display processor 305 changes the display contents of the program table 401, when a tapping operation or sliding operation is performed after a date section is touched. However, the EPG display processor 305 may change the display contents of the program table 401, when a date section is touched.
As illustrated in
A process which is performed by the EPG display processor 305 in the case where the display contents of the program table 401 are changed when a date section is touched will be explained hereinafter with reference to
When the EPG display processor 305 obtains input information from the touch panel 17B, the EPG display processor determines whether position coordinates which are included in the input information indicate one position or not (Step B1801). When it is determined that the position coordinates indicate one position (Yes of Step B1801), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the position coordinates are located in the date bar 440 (Step B1802). When it is determined that the position coordinates are located in the date bar 440 (Yes of Step B1802), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying program table 401 which includes information of programs that are broadcasted in the time period, which corresponds to the touched position in the touched date section, of the date which corresponds to the touched date section, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1803).
The EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a tapping operation, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1804). When it is determined that the user operation is not a tapping operation (No of Step B1804), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a sliding operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1805). When it is determined that the user operation is a sliding operation (Yes of Step B1805), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 that corresponds to the position of the sliding operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1806). The EPG display processor 305 determines whether the sliding operation is finished or not, based on presence/absence of input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1807).
When it is determined that the sliding operation is not finished (No of Step B1807), the EPG display processor 305 performs the processing of Step B. When it is determined that the sliding operation is finished (Yes of Step B1807), the EPG display processor 305 outputs the last generated EPG display data to the graphic controller 105.
When it is determined at Step B1801 that the position coordinates do not indicate one position (No of Step B1801), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the position coordinates included in the input information indicate two positions (Step B1808). When it is determined that the position coordinates indicate two positions (Yes of Step B1808), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the two pairs of position coordinates are located in the program table 401, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1809). When it is determined that the two pairs of position coordinates are located in the program table 401, the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a pinch-in operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1810). When it is determined that the user operation is a pinch-in operation (Yes of Step B1810), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 with a changed time period according to the operation quantity of the pinch-in operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1811).
When it is determined that the user operation is not a pinch-in operation (No of Step B1810), the EPG display processor 305 determines whether the user operation is a pinch-out operation or not, based on the input information from the touch panel 17B (Step B1812). When it is determined that the user operation is a pinch-out operation (Yes of Step B1812), the EPG display processor 305 generates EPG display data for displaying electronic program guide 400 which includes program table 401 with a changed time period according to the operation quantity of the pinch-out operation, and outputs the generated EPG display data to the graphics controller 105 (Step B1813).
Although the program information is obtained from the broadcasting waves in the above embodiment, the program information may be obtained from a server which is connected to the Internet.
According to the present embodiment, when a tapping operation or sliding operation is performed on the date bar, the display contents of the program table are changed, and thereby it is possible to provide an operation method which is suitable for changing the display contents in the program table.
The processing of each flowchart explained in the present embodiment can be achieved by a program, and the same effect as that of the present embodiment can be easily achieved, by installing and executing such software in an ordinary computer by using a storage medium which is readable by a computer and stores the software.
The various modules of the systems described herein can be implemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules, or components on one or more computers, such as servers. While the various modules are illustrated separately, they may share some or all of the same underlying logic or code.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-096704 | Apr 2012 | JP | national |