Patent Application
20080066108
The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below so as to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
The image processing apparatus 100 processes a broadcasting signal into an audio/video (AV) signal. In the present embodiment, the broadcasting signal includes a digital TV broadcasting signal for wireless or cable digital TV broadcasting. In this case, the image processing apparatus 100 may be provided as a digital TV or a set-top box for a digital TV which is capable of receiving and processing the digital TV broadcasting signal. Referring to
The receiver 110 receives the broadcasting signal which a broadcaster transmits. Namely, the receiver 110 receives the broadcasting signal of a channel selected by a user according to control by the controller 160. The receiver 110 selects a channel at a frequency corresponding to the selected channel to receive the correspondent broadcasting signal, and separates and outputs the AV signal and a service application.
The transmitter 112 transmits data responsive to performance of the service application by transmitting user data about a plurality of service information items to the broadcaster. Generally, the transmitter 112 includes a modem. The transmitter 112 for the cable digital TV broadcasting system may include a tuner for transmission.
The user interface part 120 receives a user's command in operation of the image processing apparatus 100 and delivers the user's command to the controller 160. The user interface part 120 may be provided as a button key (not shown) disposed on the image processing apparatus 100, a remote controller (not shown), etc., or may have a configuration to detect control data provided from an external device.
The AV processor 130 processes an audio signal and a video signal received by the receiver 110 according to control by the controller 160. Processes include decoding, improving an image quality, scaling to adjust the size of an image, etc.
The display 140 displays an image of video data which is processed by the AV processor 130. The display 140 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a plasma display panel (PDP), etc.
The storage area 150 stores the user data related to the plurality of service information items which an authorized service application may store and use. In the MHP specification, the service information items include a user language, a user name, a user address, a user e-mail, parental rating, a font size, and a country code. Further, the storage area 150 stores a user control item which the user may control, i.e., the user data on the parental rating which is set by the user to control the image processing apparatus and the host control program 162 illustrated in
The controller 160 controls the image processing apparatus 100 overall.
The controller 160 controls the receiver 110, the AV processor 130, etc. based on the host control program 162. For example, the controller 160 controls the AV processor 130 to process the input AV signal on the basis of the host control program 162. Meanwhile, a menu task 162a in the host control program 162 is a program provided to the user to control a screen size, video, audio, etc. In the present embodiment, the menu task 162a provides a service information editing screen 510 illustrated in
The controller 160 operates on the basis of the service application separated and outputted from the receiver 110. The service application is for a data broadcasting service provided from the broadcaster. While operating according to the host control program 162, the controller 160 performs the service application and operates a correspondent service based on the commands in the service application if the broadcasting signal includes the service application. A service application Xlet may be performed by a Java application.
The platform 164 includes an application programming interface (API) 164a, a service performing part 164b and a system operating part interface 164c to perform the service application. The API 164a provides various functions to efficiently perform the service application regardless of the host control program 162. The service performing part 164b, also referred to as a Java implementation, is a Java implementation part to provide a Java API function. The system operating part interface 164c is a layer to provide host-dependent functions and information needed for the service performing part 164b and to interface with the system operating part 166.
The image processing apparatus 100 stores the user data about the service information items inputted according to the command of the service application in the storage area 150 (S302). Then, it is determined whether the user desires to edit the user data of the service information items in the storage area 150 (S304). If the user requires to edit the user data, the user data is edited independently of performance of the service application (S306).
Hereinafter, the control method of the image processing apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to
The image processing apparatus 100 stores the user data of the service information items inputted according to the command of the service application in the storage area 150 (S310). The host control program 162 of the controller 160 determines whether the user requires to operate the menu task 162a of the host control program 162 to edit the user data stored in the storage area 150 (S312). If the menu task 162a is required to operate, the host control program 162a of the controller 160 displays the user data on the display 140 (S314). As illustrated in
The host control program 162 of the controller 160 determines whether the user data is edited through the user interface part 120 (S316). That is, the host control program 162 determines whether the user data is inputted, changed or deleted through the user interface part 120 in the user data area 522 of the service information editing screen 510. Particularly, the host control program 162 deletes all the user data in the service information items displayed on the display 40 if the delete-all menu 524 is selected through the user interface part 120. If the user data corresponding to the service information items 520 is edited by the user, the storage area 150 stores the edited user data. (S318).
Meanwhile, the user data on the service information items may be edited not only directly by the user but also by checking the check area selecting whether to permit the user data to be disclosed. In this case, a separate area is provided in the storage area 150 to store the user data on the service information items displayed on the display 140. Namely, only marked user data not prohibited from disclosure to the public is stored, from among the user data on the service information items used by the service application.
Further, the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment determines whether one of the service information items is consistent with the user control item (S320). That is, if the parental rating of the service information items is equal to the parental rating of the user control item, user data related to a correspondent service information item may be stored in the storage area 150 as the user data related to the user control item (S322). In this case, if one of the service information items is equal to the user control item, and the user data related to the user control item is required to be changed equally through the user interface part 120, the user data related to a correspondent service information item may be stored in the storage area 150 in operation S322.
The controller 160 transmits the user data related to the service information items stored by the host control program 162 to the broadcaster in response to the service application (S324).
A control method of the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment executed by the service application, i.e., a process where the user data related to the service information items stored by the host control program 162 is transmitted to the broadcaster in response to the service application, will be described with reference to
The receiver 110 receives the broadcasting signal of a channel selected by a user and separately outputs an AV signal and service application according to control by the controller 160. The controller 160 receives the service application through the API 164a and performs it. In this case, the controller 160 determines whether the service application requires user data related to the service information item 520 (S402), and determines whether the user data required by the service application is stored in the storage area 150 (S404).
If user data related to service information items 520 according to performance of a specific service application or edition by the user stored in the storage area 150 does not correspond with all service information items 520 required by the service application, the display 140 displays the unfilled required service information items 520 and the receiver 110 receives the missing user data related to the service information item 520 (S406). Then, the storage area 150 stores the user data related to the inputted service information item according to a command of the service application (S408).
If all the user data related to the service information items required by the service application are stored in the storage area 150 or inputted through the user interface part 120, the controller 160 transmits the user data through the transmitter 112 in response to the service application (S410). In this case, the controller 160 may transmit only that user data which is set to be open in the storage area 150 in response to the service application.
According to the present invention described above, a user may control data of service information directly, thereby preventing undesired disclosure of personal data.
Further, information the user permits to be disclosed is stored so as to be used for input repeatedly.
Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2006-0088256 | Sep 2006 | KR | national |
