Abstract:
According to one embodiment, a method of controlling an electric device is described, where the electronic device comprises a tuner, an OSD-controller, a net connection module, and an initial setup module for setting a menu language of the display menu. The method comprises associating setup information to information to be transported to the server. Thereafter, the method comprises accessing the world wide web server through a net connection module by using the information associated with the setup information; selecting content of one of languages from a set of content of various languages stored in the world wide web server, wherein the one of languages is the same language with that of the display menu; and displaying content delivered from the world wide web server.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/743,211 filed Jan. 16, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/419,929, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,381,256, which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-169085, filed Jun. 27, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    One embodiment of the invention relates to a television receiver, a method of controlling the receiver and a network construction device, especially to an improved web server connection function and connecting method. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Recent personal computers can readily establish connection to a World Wide Web (WWW) server by way of the Internet. Most personal computers are provided with a browser function so that various types of information can be downloaded from the server and viewed. A WWW server doesn&#39;t offer information to a specific country but across the world. For this reason, language content that is attached to moving image content (or still image content) is prepared in different languages. Thus, when access is made from a personal computer to a WWW server to request content, a language request signal (display language request signal) is transmitted. Then, the WWW server analyzes the language request signal to determine the language requested by the user and delivers content in this language. 
         [0006]    Recently, most digital television receivers are also provided with an Internet connection function. In a similar manner to the above computer, a digital television receiver of this type needs to transmit a language request signal when requesting content from a WWW server. The receiver, however, has an initial setup function that is to be performed at the time of purchase. The initial setup includes menu language and country settings (see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-227199, for example). This means that, for the conventional digital television receiver, a language request signal needs to be transmitted to determine a language when accessing the WWW server by way of the Internet, separately from the settings of language and country, which makes the operation irksome. 
         [0007]    For the above reason, digital television receivers cause inconvenience to the users. If the content is delivered in a language different from the set-up language when accessing the WWW server, some users may mistake this for a malfunction of the receiver because the initial setup is already completed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a diagram for showing an example structure of a television receiver according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a diagram for explaining the screens of the television receiver according to the present invention when it is actually put into use. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a diagram for explaining the state of the television receiver that is connected to a server by way of the Internet. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a diagram for explaining the state of the television receiver of  FIG. 1  and other television receivers when connected to the server by way of the Internet. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a diagram for explaining another example of the operation of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a diagram for explaining a further example of the operation of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a diagram for showing a remote controller that is used for the receiver of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a diagram for explaining another example of a menu screen of the receiver of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings. An object of the embodiments of the present invention is to offer a television receiver which can automatically maintain consistency between a language that is initially configured and a language of content that is delivered when connected to the web server, a method of controlling such a receiver and a network construction device. 
         [0018]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising: an initial setup module configured to maintain initial setup information that indicates at least a menu language; a setup information association process module configured to determine a language request signal to request a language the same as the menu language indicated in the initial setup information; and a network control module configured to access a server of the World Wide Web and transmitting the language request signal at the same time to determine a browser language. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows an example structure of a television receiver according to the invention. 
         [0020]    A tuner  101  receives, for example, a digital broadcast signal, decodes the received signal, and supplies the decoded signal to a transport decoder  102 . Video and audio data in packets of a television program selected by the transport decoder  102  is input to an audio-video (AV) decoder  103  and decoded by the decoder  103 . 
         [0021]    The audio data decoded by the AV decoder  103  is output to a speaker  107 , while the video data is output to a display  106 . This video data may be combined with video data supplied by an on-screen display (OSD) controller  105  at a combining module  104 . 
         [0022]    An EEPROM  111  is incorporated to store, for example, programs for implementing the functions of the television receiver and parameters for the programs. A SDRAM  112  is incorporated to temporarily store data in a process of correcting errors in received signals. 
         [0023]    A main bus  110  is connected to the transport decoder  102 , the AV decoder  103 , the OSD controller  105 , the EEPROM  111 , the SDRAM  112  and the like. 
         [0024]    The main bus  110  is connected to a controller  150  that controls the entire receiver. Furthermore, the receiver may be connected to an external device by way of the main bus  110 . For this arrangement, the main bus  110  is connected to a net connection module  120 , a remote control interface  115  and an ATAPI interface  116 . A hard disk drive (HDD)  117  may be connected by way of the interface  116 , and a DVD drive  119  may be connected by way of an interface  118 . 
         [0025]    AV streams divided by the transport stream decoder  102  may be stored in the HDD  117  by way of the ATAPI interface  116 . At the time of reproduction, the AV streams read from the HDD  117  are decoded by the AV decoder  103 . 
         [0026]    The AV decoder  103  reproduces audio and video signals from a transport stream. The decoder  103  also reproduces audio and video signals from DVD-standard audio and video streams. The decoder  103  may be configured to further reproduce audio and video signals from signals of other standards. 
         [0027]    An AV encoder  113  is connected to the main bus  110  to convert picture data to a specific format (for example, DVD-standard, transport stream, and baseband) so that the data can be stored in a recording medium. The converted AV information is recorded on a DVD or the like. In other words, the DVD-standard information is recorded on an optical disk by way of the DVD drive  119 . The controller  150  controls all the above described blocks (or modules) in a centralized manner. The term “block” or “module” is generally defined as hardware and/or software. 
         [0028]    The controller  150  is provided with an initial setup module  155  to make the initial setup of the television receiver. The initial setup includes “country setting” to determine the country in which the receiver is used and “language setting” to determine the menu language. 
         [0029]    The controller  150  is also provided with a menu control module  156  to display a menu. The menu control module  156  selects a menu signal for the setup language, and outputs the menu signal by way of the OSD controller  105 . 
         [0030]    The controller  150  further includes a browser function control module  157 . The browser function control module  157  displays the content delivered from the web server on the display  106 . 
         [0031]    The controller  150  still further includes a setup information association process module  158 . The setup information association process module  158  is the main feature of the receiver, associating the initial setup information with the browser function control module  157 . This operation will be explained later in detail. 
         [0032]    The controller  150  also includes a network control module  159 . The network control module  159  accesses a web server  123  connected to the Internet  121 , by way of the net connection module  120  in accordance with an address input or address selected by the user. When making the WWW access, the network control module  159  transmits a language request signal, which will be described later. 
         [0033]    The controller  150  also includes a remote control command process module  161 . The remote control command process module  161  processes a command that is input from the remote controller  124  by way of the remote control interface  115  so that the command is reflected to the operation of a corresponding function of the receiver. 
         [0034]    The controller  150  may be further provided with a language content selection module  162 . When content of several different languages is supplied from the server, the language content selection module  162  selects, for display, the language content of the language that corresponds to the language request signal. 
         [0035]      FIG. 2  shows the screens of the display  106  of a television receiver  100 - 1 . These screens are presented when the user performs an initial setup after purchasing the receiver. After the receiver is switched on, the user manipulates the menu button of the remote controller  124  and selects an item for the initial setup. As a result, Screen A of  FIG. 2  appears. The Screen A shows “1. Country setting” and “2. Language Setting”. The user manipulates the cursor key of the remote controller 124 to move the cursor. For example, “1. Country setting” is selected and the enter button is pressed. Then, a list of country names is displayed, although this is not shown in the drawing. The user places the cursor at a target country name and presses the enter button. The country setting is now completed. The display returns to the Screen A, on which the cursor is placed at “2. Language setting”. When the user presses the enter button, items including “1. English”, “2. French”, “3. Spanish”, “4. German” appear, together with a message “select language”, as indicated on Screen B. 
         [0036]    When the user places the cursor at “3. Spanish” and presses the enter button, Screen C appears with a message “Language is set to Spanish”. When the “Exit” button is pressed, the language setup is completed, and the screen returns to the main menu. 
         [0037]    After the language is configured in the television receiver of the present invention, the setup information association process module  158  automatically sets up a language request signal that is employed by the network control module  159 . 
         [0038]    More specifically, the setup information association process module  158  determines a language request signal for requesting the same language as the one designated in the initial setup information. Then, the network control module  159  accesses the WWW server by way of the net connection module  120  and transmits the language request signal at the same time in order to determine the language of the browser. The language request signal is transmitted in the head packet when accessing the server  123 . In other words, the Accept-Language header of the HTTP request is changed to the description that agrees with the country and language settings. 
         [0039]    With the above arrangement of the television receiver, the language request signal required for the Internet access is automatically determined if the menu language is selected at the initial setup. This improves the user&#39;s operability, and eliminates the possibility of being mistaken for a malfunction of the receiver. 
         [0040]      FIG. 3  illustrates the relationship of the television receiver  100 - 1 , the Internet  121  and the server  123 . Language content is prepared, for example, in English, French, Spanish and German in the server  123 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 4  shows television receivers  100 - 2  and  100 - 3 , in addition to  100 - 1 , which are connected to the server  123  by way of the Internet  121 . In this drawing, because the television receiver  100 - 1  is set to Spanish, Spanish language content is delivered from the server  123  to this receiver. If the television receivers  100 - 2  and  100 - 3  are set to French and English, respectively, the server  123  delivers the language content of French and English individually to the television receivers  100 - 2  and  100 - 3 . 
         [0042]    The invention is not limited to the above embodiment. If the server  123  adopts a method of classifying content by country, the content may be delivered in accordance with the information of “country setting”. 
         [0043]      FIG. 5  shows the server  123  distributing content that corresponds to the country setup information configured in each of the television receivers  100 - 1 ,  100 - 2  and  100 - 3 . In other words, the initial setup module  155  stores at least country setup information that is configured as initial setup information. The setup information association process module  158  establishes association with the country setup information, and the network control module  159  accesses the WWW server while transmitting the country setup information. 
         [0044]    If the server  123  offers a simultaneous distribution service of multi-lingual content, the receiver may be designed to automatically select language content corresponding to the setup language from the content of various languages. 
         [0045]      FIG. 6  shows the server  123  simultaneously distributing multi-lingual content. Each of the receivers can determine and receive the language content selected by the language content selection module  162 . When different language content is sent from the server, the language content selection module  162  selects the language content of the language that correspond to the language request signal and adopts the language content for display. 
         [0046]    In the above description, the operation of selecting language content is discussed. It should be noted that compressed audio data may be supplied from the server. In such a case, a speech language that corresponds to the selected display language is selected. 
         [0047]      FIG. 7  is an example external view of a remote controller. KE 1  is a switch for selecting TV, DVD and link mode. KE 2  is a power switch, and KE 3  are numeric input buttons. KE 4  is a button for returning to a previous program, KE 5  is a button for selecting an external device input, and KE 6  is an analog/digital television switch. KE 7  is a button for changing a position of a program or a position on a text page, KE 8  is a TV volume change button, and KE 9  is a mute setup button. Further, KE 10  is an on-screen menu display button, and KE 11  is an operation button for exiting the menu. The triangles of KE 12  indicate the cursor moving directions, and “OK” is an enter button. KE 13  is a button for displaying favorite programs in digital mode, KE 14  is a button for displaying a program guide, and KE 15  is a text control button. In addition, KE 16  is a button for selecting a picture standard from selectable TV standards, KE 17  is a button for setting a wide screen, and KE 19  is a button for calling up a text service. 
         [0048]      FIG. 8  illustrates an example of the menu screen. This menu screen appears when setting up the television receiver. The language used in the menu screen is set by default, for example, to English. When the power switch is operated, “menu language” and “country” appear as a quick setup menu. The user can select a language from English, French or other languages, as the user wishes. For some television receivers, the country may already be configured as a factory default setting. If this is the case, the “country” item would not be highlighted. 
         [0049]    According to the above invention, the language for server connection is automatically determined to agree with the language of the menu that is initially set up by the user, which facilitates the operation of the receiver and improves the usability. 
         [0050]    While certain embodiments of the inventions 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 methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems 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 of modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.