Abstract:
An image processing apparatus, method and computer program storage device cooperate to receive character information and broadcast program information, and then insert the character information in a capture portion of the program information. The program information includes audio-visual data to be displayed, as well as caption attribute information.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, method and computer program product for displaying character information such as a tweet regarding a broadcast program on a screen along with the broadcast program, and relates to a video-picture recording apparatus for recording the character information and the broadcast program. 
         [0002]    At the present day, there has been provided a TWITTER (a registered trademark) which renders short-sentence services serving as a function between chatting, and a blog and an SNS (Social Network Service) through a network such as the Internet. These services allow short-sentence tweets following a specific short-sentence tweet registered by a certain user in a TWITTER server to be registered by an unspecified user other than the certain user. In this way, a user is capable of disclosing a tweet of its own with a light heart whereas other users are capable of, among others, responding to the tweet. The number of characters included in a tweet that can be registered is 140 or an integer smaller than 140. Posted tweets are displayed along the time axis by adoption of a display method referred to as a time line. That is, a tweet posted most recently is displayed on the top to be followed sequentially in the downward direction by tweets posted less recently to form a flow of tweets. Each individual link information for a still picture, a moving picture or a piece of music can be added to a tweet after the still picture, the moving picture or the piece of music has been uploaded at another site to result in the link information. 
         [0003]    By looking at a hash-tag in a posted tweet, it is possible to identify what the tweet has been posted for. There are a number of users each posting a tweet for a broadcast TV program. In this case, if the broadcasting station is the NHK (Nihon Housou Kyoukai) for example, a “#nhk” hash-tag seen by a user as a hash-tag included in a tweet makes the user capable of determining that the tweet has been posted as a tweet for the NHK. 
         [0004]    In recent years, there has been provided a function for displaying information on tweets regarding such a broadcast program on a screen of a TV receiver or the like along with the broadcast program. For details of the function, the reader is advised to refer to Non-Patent Document 1, “Linked Network Torne Update Ver. 2.10 Library,” Sony Computer Entertainment Corporation [online], searched on Mar. 18, 2011, Internet &lt;URL: http://www.jp.playstation.com/ps3/torne/update/index.html&gt;. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    In order to display a tweet along with a broadcast program on a screen, however, the display area of the broadcast program is contracted to secure another window to serve as a frame for displaying the tweet. In addition, if the tweet is simply displayed on the screen, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that important portions of an image of the program are inadvertently concealed behind the tweet. 
         [0006]    It is thus an aim of the present disclosure addressing the problem described above to display character information such as a tweet regarding a broadcast program at a proper position on a screen along with the broadcast program. 
         [0007]    Since caption information of a broadcast program is provided by the broadcasting station, in many cases, the caption information is displayed at a position raising no problem even if the caption information is superposed on the image of the program. Thus, if character information such as a tweet regarding a broadcast program is displayed by making use of display position information included in the caption information of the broadcast program, the character information can be displayed at a proper position indicated by the display position information. 
         [0008]    According to one embodiment, an image processing apparatus includes 
         [0009]    a network communication section that receives character information from a remote device; 
         [0010]    a program receiving section that receives broadcast program information, the program information including audio-visual data to be displayed and caption attribute information; and 
         [0011]    an image generation section that inserts the character information in a caption portion of the program information. 
         [0012]    According to one aspect of this embodiment, 
         [0013]    the image generation section inserts the character information for display on a display device based on position information of the caption character information, the position information being included in the attribute information. 
         [0014]    According to another aspect, 
         [0015]    the character information is program-related character information, and 
         [0016]    the image generation section inserts the program-related character information for display on a display device. 
         [0017]    According to another aspect, 
         [0018]    the image generation section inserts the character information for display on a display apparatus at a fixed location on the image when the caption character information is not included in the broadcast program information. 
         [0019]    According to another aspect, the apparatus further includes 
         [0020]    a specification information generation section that searches a storage device for specification information associated based on an identified broadcast station from a program array information analysis section and sends an address to the remote device for identification of the character information that corresponds with the program information. 
         [0021]    According to another aspect, the apparatus further includes 
         [0022]    a specification information generation section that searches a storage device for specification information associated based on user setting information and sends an address to the remote device for identification of the character information that corresponds with the user setting information. 
         [0023]    According to another aspect, the apparatus further includes 
         [0024]    a specification information generation section that generates specification information based on characters included in electronic program guide information and acquires the character information about a program that is not directly broadcast to the apparatus from a broadcast station. 
         [0025]    According to another aspect, 
         [0026]    the image generation section selects the character information as caption information when obtained from a caption processing section and selects the character information as a tweet when received from a tweet processing section. 
         [0027]    According to another aspect, 
         [0028]    the information generation section inserts the character information in the caption portion of the program information in order of character-information acquisition time for fixed time intervals. 
         [0029]    According to another aspect, 
         [0030]    a number of characters in the character information is limited to a predetermined number. 
         [0031]    According to another aspect, the apparatus further includes 
         [0032]    a video-picture recording processing section that prepares and stores a video image that has the character information inserted in the caption portion of the program information. 
         [0033]    According to an image processing method embodiment, the method includes 
         [0034]    receiving at a network communication section character information from a remote device; 
         [0035]    receiving broadcast program information at a program receiving section, the program information including audio-visual data to be displayed and caption attribute information; and 
         [0036]    inserting the character information in a caption portion of the program information. 
         [0037]    According to one aspect of this embodiment 
         [0038]    the inserting includes inserting the character information for display on a display device based on position information of the caption character information, the position information being included in the attribute information. 
         [0039]    According to another aspect, 
         [0040]    the character information is program-related character information, and 
         [0041]    the inserting includes inserting the program-related character information for display on a display device. 
         [0042]    According to another aspect, 
         [0043]    the inserting inserts the character information for display on a display apparatus at a fixed location on the image when the caption character information is not included in the broadcast program information. 
         [0044]    According to another aspect, the method further includes 
         [0045]    searching a storage device for specification information associated based on an identified broadcast station from a program array information analysis section and sending an address to the remote device for identification of the character information that corresponds with the program information. 
         [0046]    According to another aspect, the method further includes 
         [0047]    searching a storage device for specification information associated based on user setting information and sending an address to the remote device for identification of the character information that corresponds with the user setting information. 
         [0048]    According to another aspect, the method further includes 
         [0049]    generating specification information based on characters included in electronic program guide information and acquiring the character information about a program that is not directly broadcast to the apparatus from a broadcast station. 
         [0050]    According to another aspect, 
         [0051]    the selecting includes selecting the character information as caption information when obtained from a caption processing section and selecting the character information as a tweet when received from a tweet processing section. 
         [0052]    According to a non-transitory computer readable storage device embodiment, the device includes instructions stored therein that when executed by a processing circuit perform a method that includes 
         [0053]    receiving at a network communication section character information from a remote device; 
         [0054]    receiving broadcast program information at a program receiving section, the program information including audio-visual data to be displayed and caption attribute information; and 
         [0055]    inserting with the processing circuit the character information in a caption portion of the program information. 
         [0056]    As described above, in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to insert program-related character information such as a tweet regarding a broadcast program into a proper position in an image of the broadcast program and possible to display and record the character information in a display apparatus and an image recording apparatus respectively along with the broadcast program. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0057]      FIG. 1  is an explanatory diagram showing a model of a typical configuration of a character-information display system according to a first embodiment; 
           [0058]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are a plurality of explanatory diagrams each showing a typical screen of a display apparatus employed in the character-information display system according to the first embodiment; 
           [0059]      FIG. 2A  is an explanatory diagram showing a typical screen exhibiting a typical display of a caption; 
           [0060]      FIG. 2B  is an explanatory diagram showing a typical screen exhibiting a typical display of a tweet; 
           [0061]      FIG. 3  is an explanatory diagram to be referred to in description of switching from a display of a caption to a display of a tweet and vice versa in accordance with the first embodiment; 
           [0062]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of a computer employed in each server included in the character-information display system according to the first embodiment; 
           [0063]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of an image processing apparatus included in the character-information display system according to the first embodiment; 
           [0064]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of an image generation section employed in the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment; 
           [0065]      FIG. 7  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the image generation section to display a tweet in accordance with the first embodiment; 
           [0066]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing only main sections included in a typical internal configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment to serve as sections for acquiring a tweet from a tweet information server; 
           [0067]      FIG. 9  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the image generation section to acquire a tweet in accordance with the first embodiment; 
           [0068]      FIG. 10  is a block diagram showing main sections composing a modified version of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment; 
           [0069]      FIG. 11  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of a video-picture recording apparatus according to a second embodiment; 
           [0070]      FIG. 12  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of a video-picture-recording processing section employed in the video-picture recording apparatus according to the second embodiment; 
           [0071]      FIG. 13  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the video-picture-recording processing section according to the second embodiment to record a tweet; 
           [0072]      FIG. 14  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of a reproduction apparatus according to a third embodiment; and 
           [0073]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of an image generation section employed in the reproduction apparatus according to the third embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0074]    Embodiments of the disclosure are explained by referring to accompanying diagrams as follows. In the diagrams, every configuration element common to the embodiments is denoted by the same reference symbol and the common configuration element is explained only once in order to avoid duplications of descriptions. The embodiments are explained in chapters arranged in the following order: 
       1: First Embodiment 
       [0075]    This chapter explains an image processing apparatus which is a typical apparatus for acquiring a tweet attached by a broadcasting station. 
       1-1: Modified Version 
       [0076]    This sub-chapter explains an image processing apparatus which is a typical apparatus for extracting characters from information on a broadcast program, generating specification information and acquiring a tweet. 
       2: Second Embodiment 
       [0077]    This chapter explains a typical video-picture recording apparatus. 
       3: Third Embodiment 
       [0078]    This chapter explains a typical reproduction apparatus. 
       1: First Embodiment 
       [0079]    A first embodiment to be explained below displays a received broadcast program and short-sentence character information such as a tweet represented by a TWITTER regarding the broadcast program together on the screen of a display apparatus. In this embodiment, the character information is a string of characters including at least kanji characters, kana characters, alphanumeric characters and symbols. It is assumed that the number of characters composing the character information is limited. For example, the number of characters is 140 or an integer smaller than 140. 
       Overview of the Character-Information Display System 
       [0080]      FIG. 1  is an explanatory diagram showing a model of a typical configuration of a character-information display system according to the first embodiment. 
         [0081]    The character-information display system according to the first embodiment employs tweet-information server  1 , a specification-information server  2  and an image processing apparatus  3 . The tweet-information server  1  is a server in which a plurality of pieces of character information serving as a tweet have been stored. The image processing apparatus  3  receives TV broadcast waves conveying broadcast programs. The tweet-information server  1 , the specification-information server  2  and the image processing apparatus  3  are connected to each other through a network  4  such as the Internet so that the tweet-information server  1 , the specification-information server  2  and the image processing apparatus  3  are capable of communicating with each other. The image processing apparatus  3  is connected to a display apparatus  5 . A typical general example of the image processing apparatus  3  is a video-picture recorder. The image processing apparatus  3  may receive a broadcast program by making use of a radio or wire facility. 
         [0082]    The specification-information server  2  includes a saved specification-information table like typically Table 1 to be given below. It is to be noted that a service ID is information automatically assigned by a broadcasting station but the same broadcasting station may assign a service ID which may vary in accordance with the area. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Specification information 
               
               
                 Service ID 
                 Broadcasting-station name 
                 (hash-tag) 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 1024 
                 A Television 
                 #AAA 
               
               
                 1040 
                 B Television 
                 #BBB 
               
               
                 1048 
                 C Television 
                 #CCC 
               
               
                 1056 
                 D Television 
                 #DDD 
               
               
                 1072 
                 E Television 
                 #EEE 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0083]    A piece of specification information on an entry of Table 1 serving as a specification-information table is information corresponding to a hash-tag of a TWITTER. The specification-information server  2  has a data table stored therein in advance as a table used for indicating association of each broadcasting station with a hash-tag used by the broadcasting station. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is created on the basis of this specification information. The URL is used for acquiring a tweet attached to broadcasting-station information included in information on a broadcast program. A typical example of the information on a broadcast program is SI (Service Information). The URL is the address of an information resource existing in the Internet. A typical example of the information resource is a resource of texts, images and the like. 
         [0084]    A specification-information table can be acquired as follows. First of all, when the image processing apparatus  3  is activated or when an operation determined in advance is carried out, the specification-information table showing data of specification information is downloaded from the specification-information server  2  and the data is stored in storage section of the image processing apparatus  3 . It is desirable to manage the data so as to always be the most recent data stored in the storage section of the image processing apparatus  3 . Thereby, it is possible to keep up with increases/decreases of the broadcasting-station count and to keep up with addition of a new broadcasting station to the specification-information table or elimination of an existing broadcasting station from the specification-information table. For example, it is possible to provide a configuration in which, when the user carries out an operation on the image processing apparatus  3  to preset the frequency of a signal receivable from the image processing apparatus  3 , the image processing apparatus  3  transmits information on a broadcasting station for the frequency preset in the image processing apparatus  3  to the specification-information server  2  whereas, in return, the specification-information server  2  transmits specification information attached to the received information on the broadcasting station to the image processing apparatus  3 . A typical example of the specification information is a hash-tag. 
         [0085]    It is to be noted that, in a configuration wherein the specification-information table is not downloaded from the specification-information server  2 , the image processing apparatus  3  may directly create the specification-information table and store the specification-information table in the storage section thereof. In this case, the image processing apparatus  3  may create the specification-information table automatically or in accordance with a manual operation carried out by the user. 
         [0086]    Next, an outline of operations carried out by the character-information display system is explained as follows. 
         [0087]    First of all, the image processing apparatus  3  determines whether or not a new tweet exists in the tweet-information server  1 . That is, by making use of certain specification information as a search key, the image processing apparatus  3  searches tweets registered in the tweet-information server  1  for a tweet associated with the specification information. 
         [0088]    In the tweet-information server  1 , an open API (Application Programming Interface) has been prepared so that, by merely carrying out a network communication (according to an HTTP/GET method), tweet information at an address specified by a URL can be obtained. If it is desired to acquire tweet information of an A television broadcasting station shown in Table 1 for example, typically, the image processing apparatus  3  specifies http://search.TWITTER.com/search.atom?q=%23AAA as the URL of the A television broadcasting station and transmits the URL to the tweet-information server  1 . Then, the image processing apparatus  3  receives tweet information associated with #AAA representing the A television broadcasting station from the tweet-information server  1 . The information received from the tweet-information server  1  is saved in the image processing apparatus  3  and displayed on the screen of the display apparatus  5 . 
         [0089]    Next, the following description explains a caption display and a tweet display which are generated in the character-information display system according to the present embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         [0090]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  are a plurality of explanatory diagrams each showing a typical screen of the display apparatus  5  employed in the character-information display system according to the first embodiment. To be more specific,  FIG. 2A  is an explanatory diagram showing a typical screen exhibiting a typical display of a caption  13  whereas  FIG. 2B  is an explanatory diagram showing a typical screen exhibiting a typical display of a tweet  14 . 
         [0091]    Here, if there is no new tweet, a caption  13  is displayed in a caption display area  12  on the screen  11  of the display apparatus  5  as shown in  FIG. 2A . It is to be noted that, in the typical display shown in  FIG. 2A , the caption  13  is displayed at a position allocated to the caption  13  to occupy the entire caption display area  12  so that no tweet can be displayed. If a new tweet  14  exists, on the other hand, the tweet information is acquired and displayed in the caption display area  12  at a position allocated to the caption as shown in  FIG. 2B . 
         [0092]    As described above, by displaying short-sentence character information of a tweet  14  at a position allocated by a broadcasting station to a caption  13 , the character information can be displayed on the screen of the display apparatus  5  without improperly veiling a position on the program image existing in the background of the caption display area  12 . 
         [0093]    The format of a tweet received by the image processing apparatus  3  from the tweet-information server  1  can be selected and set by the user to operate a remote controller. The format of a tweet includes the size of characters and the color of the tweet. In addition, the user is capable of switching an option to display the character information of a tweet to an option not to display the character information of a tweet and vice versa by entering a command of selecting an item representing one of the options from an option menu. 
         [0094]      FIG. 3  is an explanatory diagram to be referred to in description of switching from a display of a caption to a display of a tweet and vice versa in accordance with the first embodiment. 
         [0095]    As an option item of an option-menu screen  16 , an item referred to as a caption/tweet display switching option  16   a  is provided. It is possible to provide a toggle mechanism described as follows. As a default, a caption is displayed. When the item referred to as the caption/tweet display switching option  16   a  is clicked, the display is switched to a tweet. When the item referred to as the caption/tweet display switching option  16   a  is clicked again, the display is switched back to a caption. It is to be noted that an option item referred to as words of concern  16   b  is used for the purpose of creating specification information serving as a hash-tag in this embodiment on the basis of characters included in EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information also referred to as SI information, and obtaining tweet information related to a broadcast program. Details of the words of concern  16   b  will be described later. 
       Typical Configuration of the Servers 
       [0096]    Next, the configuration of the tweet-information server  1  and the specification-information server  2  is explained as follows. 
         [0097]    Each of the tweet-information server  1  and the specification-information server  2  can be implemented typically as a general-purpose computer.  FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of hardware of the general-purpose computer referred to hereafter simply as a computer  20 . 
         [0098]    As shown in the figure, the computer  20  employs a CPU (Central Processing Unit)  21 , a ROM (Read-Only Memory)  22  and a RAM (Random-Access Memory)  23  which are connected to each other by a bus  24 . 
         [0099]    The bus  24  is also connected to an input/output interface  25 . The input/output interface  25  is connected to an input section  26 , an output section  27 , a storage section  28 , a communication section  29  and a drive  30 . 
         [0100]    The input section  26  includes a keyboard, a mouse and a microphone whereas the output section  27  includes a display unit and a speaker. The storage section  28  includes a hard disk and a nonvolatile memory. The communication section  29  is a network interface. On the drive  30 , a removable recording medium  31  is mounted and driven. The removable recording medium  31  can be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magnetic optical disk or a semiconductor memory. 
         [0101]    In the computer  20  having the configuration described above, the CPU  21  executes programs in order to carry out the processing described above. The programs executed by the CPU  21  are typically programs loaded into the RAM  23  from the storage section  28  by way of the input/output interface  25  and the bus  24 . 
         [0102]    The programs to be executed by the CPU  21  employed in the computer  20  can be presented to the user by storing the programs in the removable recording medium  31  used as a package recording medium. In addition, the programs can also be presented to the user through a wire or radio transmission medium such as a local area network, the Internet or a digital broadcast. 
         [0103]    In the computer  20 , the programs can be installed in the storage section  28  by transferring the programs from the removable recording medium  31  to the storage section  28  by way of the drive  30  and the input/output interface  25  when the removable recording medium  31  is mounted on the drive  30 . In addition, the programs can be downloaded by the communication section  29  by way of the wire or radio transmission medium. Then, the programs are installed in the storage section  28  by transferring the programs from the communication section  29  to the storage section  28  by way of the input/output interface  25 . On top of that, the programs can be stored in advance in the ROM  22  or the storage section  28 . 
         [0104]    When the tweet-information server  1  having the configuration described above receives a URL created on the basis of a hash-tag from the image processing apparatus  3 , the CPU  21  searches pieces of character information stored in the storage section  28  for specific character information specified by the URL. If the character information specified by the URL is found in the search, the character information is transmitted to the image processing apparatus  3  by way of the network  4 . 
         [0105]    In addition, it is possible to provide a configuration in which, when the specification-information server  2  receives a request for transmission of a specification-information table like Table 1 from the image processing apparatus  3 , the CPU  21  reads out the specification-information table from the storage section  28  and transmits the table to the image processing apparatus  3 . As an alternative configuration, the image processing apparatus  3  may make a request for specification information such as a hash-tag for a specific broadcasting station. That is, in the alternative configuration, when the specification-information server  2  receives a request for transmission of specification information from the image processing apparatus  3 , the CPU  21  reads out the specification information for the broadcasting station from the storage section  28  and transmits the information to the image processing apparatus  3 . 
       Typical Configuration of the Image Processing Apparatus 
       [0106]    Next, a typical configuration of the image processing apparatus  3  is explained as follows. 
         [0107]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the image processing apparatus  3 . 
         [0108]    The image processing apparatus  3  is divided into two large blocks, that is, a block for carrying out processing on a broadcast program and a block for carrying out processing on tweet information. 
         [0109]    The block for carrying out processing on a broadcast program includes a program receiving section  41 , an image/sound analysis section  42 , a caption-information analysis section  43  and a caption processing section  44 . 
         [0110]    On the other hand, the block for carrying out processing on tweet information includes a network communication section  47 , a specification-information generation section  48 , a specification-information memory  49 , a tweet-information analysis section  50  and a tweet processing section  51 . The network communication section  47  is a typical communication section. 
         [0111]    In addition, the image processing apparatus  3  also has a control section  45 , a remote-controller interface  46 , a set-information memory  53  and an image generation section  52 . 
         [0112]    The program receiving section  41  is a typical example of a program receiving section having the function of the so-called tuner. The program receiving section  41  receives TV broadcast waves conveying a broadcast program through an antenna, supplying the received broadcast program to the image/sound analysis section  42  and the caption-information analysis section  43 . 
         [0113]    The image/sound analysis section  42  is a typical example of a video-picture extraction section for analyzing the broadcast program received by the program receiving section  41 , extracting image and sound data from the program and outputting the data to the image generation section  52 . 
         [0114]    The caption-information analysis section  43  and the caption processing section  44  are typical examples of configuration elements composing a caption extraction section. 
         [0115]    The caption-information analysis section  43  analyzes a broadcast program received by the program receiving section  41 , extracts caption information from the program and supplies the information to the caption processing section  44 . The caption processing section  44  extracts character information and attribute information from the caption information extracted by the caption-information analysis section  43  and outputs the character information and the attribute information to the image generation section  52 . The character information is a string of characters. 
         [0116]    As an example, the character information of a caption corresponds to first and second caption sentences of an ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses) standard. On the other hand, the attribute information of a caption corresponds to caption management data of the ARIB standard. In the following description, the first caption sentence is also referred to as a first caption or caption  1  whereas the second caption sentence is also referred to as a second caption or caption  2 . On the other hand, the caption management data for the first caption sentence is also referred to as first attribute information or attribute  1  whereas the caption management data for the second caption sentence is also referred to as second attribute information or attribute  2 . 
         [0117]    The network communication section  47  is a typical example of a communication section for carrying out communications with the external network  4  employed in the character-information display system shown in  FIG. 1 . A typical example of the network  4  is the Internet. 
         [0118]    The specification-information generation section  48  analyzes the contents of the specification-information table acquired from the specification-information server  2  or the like. As described before, the specification-information table is a table in which a plurality of pieces of specification information which are typically hash-tags have been registered. Then, the specification-information generation section  48  extracts specification information from the specification-information table. The specification information is information used for specifying broadcasting-station information and attached character information, which are included in information on a broadcast program, and used for acquiring the broadcasting-station information and the attached character information. Subsequently, from the specification information which is typically a hash-tag, the specification-information generation section  48  creates a URL for tweet information to be acquired from the tweet-information server  1 . 
         [0119]    The specification-information memory  49  is a memory used for storing the specification-information table such as Table 1. It is also possible to provide a configuration in which the specification-information generation section  48  creates specification information by referring to a broadcasting station and specification information which have been registered in the specification-information table. As described earlier, a typical example of the specification information is a hash-tag. In addition, the specification-information memory  49  is also used for storing user set information which is any arbitrary specification information set by the user to serve as information on, among others, a persona and/or a genre. 
         [0120]    The tweet-information analysis section  50  and the tweet processing section  51  are typical examples of configuration elements composing a character-information acquisition section. The tweet-information analysis section  50  and the tweet processing section  51  acquire character information serving as a tweet created as information related to a broadcast program from the tweet-information server  1  through the network communication section  47 . In the tweet-information server  1 , a plurality of pieces of character information each serving as a tweet have been registered. 
         [0121]    The control section  45  receives a remote-controller signal such as an infrared light ray from a remote controller not shown in the figure through the remote-controller interface  46 . The remote controller is a typical example of an operation section. In addition, the control section  45  controls blocks in the image processing apparatus  3  on the basis of the remote-controller signal. For example, the control section  45  controls data communications carried out by the network communication section  47  and controls processing carried out by the specification-information generation section  48  and the specification-information memory  49  to generate specification information. In addition, the control section  45  also stores set information in the set-information memory  53  in accordance with an operation carried out by the user and informs the image generation section  52  of the contents of a direct operation signal. Typically, the control section  45  is implemented as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit). 
         [0122]    The remote-controller interface  46  receives the remote-controller signal such as an infrared light ray from the remote controller not shown in the figure, converts the remote-controller signal into an electrical signal and outputs the electrical signal to the control section  45 . 
         [0123]    The set-information memory  53  is a memory used for storing various kinds of set information. One piece of set information is information used for switching the display from a caption to a tweet or vice versa. If first and second captions have been set for a broadcast program, another piece of set information is used for selecting one of the first caption and the second caption. 
         [0124]    In accordance with information stored in the set-information memory  53  as the set information used for switching the display from a caption to a tweet or vice versa, the image generation section  52  inserts character information of a caption or character information of a tweet into a predetermined position in a caption display area and generates an image including the character information. Then, the image generation section  52  outputs the generated image to the display apparatus  5 . 
       Configuration of the Image Generation Section 
       [0125]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the image generation section  52  according to the first embodiment. 
         [0126]    As shown in the figure, the image generation section  52  employs a character-information select portion  61 , an attribute-information analysis portion  62  and an image synthesis portion  63 . 
         [0127]    On the basis of set information, the character-information select portion  61  selects character information received from the caption processing section  44  as character information of a caption or character information received from the tweet processing section  51  as character information of a tweet, and supplies the selected character information to the image synthesis portion  63 . 
         [0128]    The attribute-information analysis portion  62  analyzes the contents of attribute information received from the caption processing section  44  in order to find out desired information, and outputs the desired information to the image synthesis portion  63 . The desired information includes the number of used captions, the size of the caption display area and the position of a caption in the caption display area. 
         [0129]    On the basis of the position information included in the attribute information as the position of a caption in the caption display area, the image synthesis portion  63  inserts the character information of a caption or a tweet into a predetermined position included in the caption display area of image/sound data to be input as a position provided for character information and generates an image. Then, the image synthesis portion  63  provides the display apparatus  5  with the generated image including the character information already inserted into the predetermined position in the caption display area. 
       Processing of the Image Generation Section 
       [0130]      FIG. 7  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the image generation section  52  to display a tweet in accordance with the first embodiment. 
         [0131]    As shown in the figure, the flowchart begins with a step S 1  at which, first of all, the character-information select portion  61  employed in the image generation section  52  selects a caption or a tweet on the basis of set information. Concurrently with the process performed at this step S 1 , the attribute-information analysis portion  62  analyzes attribute information of the caption at the step S 2 . 
         [0132]    Then, at the next step S 3 , the image generation section  52  determines whether or not the character-information select portion  61  has selected a tweet at the step S 1 . If the image generation section  52  determines at the step S 3  that the character-information select portion  61  has selected no tweet at the step S 1 , the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 4  at which the image synthesis portion  63  generates an image into which a caption is inserted on the basis of the attribute information of the caption, and outputs the image to the display apparatus  5 . 
         [0133]    If the image generation section  52  determines at the step S 3  that the character-information select portion  61  has selected a tweet at the step S 1 , on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 5  at which the image synthesis portion  63  determines whether or not the received broadcast program is a video picture with a caption on the basis of the attribute information of the broadcast program. If the image synthesis portion  63  determines at the step S 5  that the received broadcast program is a video picture with no caption, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 6  at which the image synthesis portion  63  inserts the character information of the tweet into a fixed position on the image to be displayed, supplying the image and the tweet to the display apparatus  5 . In the case of a broadcast program with no caption or in the case of a display between CMs (commercial messages) for example, the character information of the tweet is displayed at the fixed position on the displayed image. 
         [0134]    If the image synthesis portion  63  determines at the step S 5  that the received broadcast program is a video picture with a caption, on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 7  at which, on the basis of a position specified in the attribute information as the position of the caption in the caption display area, the image synthesis portion  63  inserts the character information of the tweet into the position of the caption on the image to be displayed. 
         [0135]    In this case, the image synthesis portion  63  determines whether or not the character information of the tweet to be inserted into the image can be contained in the caption display area at the next step S 8 . If the image synthesis portion  63  determines at the step S 8  that the character information of the tweet may not be contained in the caption display area, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 9  at which the image synthesis portion  63  inserts the character information of the tweet into the caption display area in the image to be displayed by adopting another method determined in advance, and outputs the image to the display apparatus  5 . 
         [0136]    Typically, the maximum number of characters composing a tweet that can be registered in the TWITTER is 140. Thus, the character string of a tweet may not all be contained in the caption display area so that, conceivably, a portion of the tweet may not be displayed in the caption display area. In this case, on the basis of the size of the characters of the tweet and the size of the caption display area, the image synthesis portion  63  computes the number of displayable characters in the character string of the tweet, and displays only the displayable characters beginning with the start character of the character string. If the character string of the tweet may not all be contained in the caption display area, the displayable characters are displayed by terminating the displayable characters with the characters “...” indicating that a portion of the character string may not be displayed. In this way, the user can be made aware of the fact that a portion of the character string of the tweet may not be displayed. Thus, if the user desires to view the continuation of the displayable portion included in the character string of the tweet, the user can take an action by directly viewing the tweet registered in the tweet-information server  1 . 
         [0137]    As an alternative, the image synthesis portion  63  may increase the number of rows in the caption display area to a value greater than a row count prescribed in advance for the caption display area, and display the character information of the tweet by making use of all the rows including the additional ones. As another alternative, the image synthesis portion  63  may display the character information of the tweet in the caption display area by rolling up or scrolling the tweet. 
         [0138]    If the image synthesis portion  63  determines at the step S 8  that the character information of the tweet to be inserted into the image can be contained in the caption display area, on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 10  at which the image synthesis portion  63  provides the display apparatus  5  with the image including the character information of the tweet inserted into the position of the caption. Then, the processing represented by this flowchart is terminated at the end of the process carried out at the step S 10 . 
       Tweet Acquisition Method 
       [0139]    Next, the following description explains methods each adopted for acquiring a tweet from the tweet-information server  1 . 
         [0140]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing only main sections included in a typical internal configuration of the image processing apparatus  3  according to the first embodiment to serve as sections for acquiring a tweet from the tweet information server  1 . Every section included in the typical configuration shown in  FIG. 8  to serve as a section identical with a specific one included in the typical configuration shown in  FIG. 5  is denoted by the same reference numeral as the specific one. 
         [0141]    In accordance with a first tweet acquisition method, a broadcasting station is identified from information on a broadcast program, and a tweet is acquired on the basis of specification information for the broadcasting station. 
         [0142]    A program array information analysis section  54  included in the configuration shown  FIG. 8  analyzes program array information included in a broadcast program received by the program receiving section  41  and identifies the broadcasting station of the broadcast program from the program array information such as SI information. Then, the program array information analysis section  54  supplies information on the broadcasting station to the specification-information generation section  48  also included in the configuration shown  FIG. 8 . The specification-information generation section  48  searches the specification-information table stored in the specification-information memory  49  for specification information associated with the identified broadcasting station. For example, the specification-information generation section  48  finds specification information of #AAA shown in Table 1 in the search as specification information associated with the identified broadcasting station. Then, the specification-information generation section  48  transmits a URL based on this specification information to the tweet-information server  1  by way of the network communication section  47 . In response to the URL transmitted by the specification-information generation section  48 , the tweet-information server  1  transmits data including a tweet to the image processing apparatus  3 . Then, the tweet-information analysis section  50  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  receives and analyzes the data to extract the character information of the tweet associated with the broadcasting station. Subsequently, the tweet-information analysis section  50  supplies the character information of the tweet to a storage apparatus  55 . 
         [0143]    As described above, in accordance with this first tweet acquisition method, a broadcasting station is identified from information on a presently viewed program being broadcasted by the station, and a tweet associated with the station can be acquired on a real-time basis on the basis of specification information registered in the specification-information table as the specification information for the station. 
         [0144]    In accordance with a second tweet acquisition method to be described below, on the other hand, specification information is generated on the basis of user set information which is information set by the user, and a tweet can be acquired as follows. 
         [0145]    The user provides the specification-information generation section  48  with user set information such as jishin (earthquake) set in accordance with an operation carried out by the user. As an alternative, the specification-information generation section  48  makes use of user set information stored in advance in the specification-information memory  49 . As explained before, set by the user, the user set information is arbitrary information such as a persona appearing on a broadcast program or a genre. The specification-information generation section  48  generates specification information such as #jishin for the user set information and transmits a URL based on the specification information to the tweet-information server  1  by way of the network communication section  47 . In response to the URL received from the specification-information generation section  48 , the tweet-information server  1  transmits data including a tweet to the image processing apparatus  3 . Then, the tweet-information analysis section  50  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  receives and analyzes the data to extract the character information of the tweet associated with the user set information. Subsequently, the tweet-information analysis section  50  supplies the character information of the tweet to the storage apparatus  55 . 
         [0146]    As described above, in accordance with this second tweet acquisition method, a tweet associated with specification information generated on the basis of user set information can be acquired on a real-time basis as a tweet not necessarily related to information on a broadcast program being viewed presently. 
         [0147]    In addition, a tweet can also be acquired by combining the first and second tweet acquisition methods. In this case, a tweet can be obtained under a finely adjusted condition. For example, specification information generated in accordance with the first tweet acquisition method is added to specification information generated in accordance with the second tweet acquisition method, or specification information generated in accordance with the first tweet acquisition method is multiplied by specification information generated in accordance with the second tweet acquisition method. 
         [0148]    It is to be noted that the storage apparatus  55  is an external nonvolatile data recording apparatus having a large storage capacity. Typical examples of the storage apparatus  55  are a hard disk, a semiconductor memory and a removable recording medium. 
         [0149]      FIG. 9  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the image generation section  52  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  to acquire a tweet in accordance with the first embodiment. 
         [0150]    As shown in the figure, the flowchart begins with a step S 11  at which, first of all, the control section  45  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  detects an operation which is carried out by the user on the image processing apparatus  3  to start viewing a broadcast program. 
         [0151]    After detecting the operation to start the viewing of a broadcast program, at the next step S 12 , the control section  45  carries out control to acquire a tweet regarding the broadcast program being viewed from the tweet-information server  1 , storing the tweet and the acquisition time of the tweet in the storage apparatus  55 . 
         [0152]    Then, at the next step S 13 , the control section  45  determines whether or not the data of the tweet has been acquired successfully at the step S 12 . If the control section  45  determines at the step S 13  that the data of the tweet has not been acquired successfully at the step S 12 , the flow of the processing goes back to the step S 12  at which the control section  45  again carries out control to reacquire a tweet regarding the broadcast program being viewed from the tweet-information server  1 . To be more specific, if the control section  45  determines at the step S 13  that the data of the tweet has not been acquired successfully at the step S 12 , the flow of the processing goes back to the step S 12  at which the control section  45  again carries out control to reacquire a tweet regarding the broadcast program being viewed from the tweet-information server  1  after waiting for typically a time period of 30 seconds to elapse since the preceding acquisition time stored in the storage apparatus  55  as a tweet for a difference from the preceding acquisition time. 
         [0153]    If the control section  45  determines at the step S 13  that the data of the tweet has been acquired successfully at the step S 12 , on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 14  at which the control section  45  controls the image generation section  52  to output an image to the display apparatus  5  so that the display apparatus  5  displays the tweet for a display time period of five seconds. It is to be noted that the display time period of five seconds is a typical time period. That is, the tweet may be displayed for a display time period different from five seconds. 
         [0154]    Then, at the next step S 15 , the control section  45  determines whether or not a time period of five minutes has lapsed since the acquisition of the data of the tweet. If the control section  45  determines at the step S 15  that the time period of five minutes has lapsed since the acquisition of the data of the tweet, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 17 . The time period of five minutes is adopted as a criterion because, if there are a number of tweets, it undesirably takes at least five minutes to complete an operation to display all the tweets so that less recent information is displayed. In this way, it is possible to monitor whether or not a less recent tweet remains undisplayed during the time period of five minutes. Thus, a recent tweet can always be acquired. It is to be noted that the time period of five minutes is a typical time period. That is, the time period can be other than five minutes. 
         [0155]    If the control section  45  determines at the step S 15  that the time period of five minutes has not lapsed since the acquisition of the data of the tweet, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 16  at which the control section  45  determines whether or not the data of all the acquired tweets has been output from the image generation section  52  to the display apparatus  5  to be displayed on the display apparatus  5 . If the control section  45  determines at the step S 16  that the data of all the acquired tweets has not been displayed on the display apparatus  5 , the flow of the processing goes back to the step S 14  at which the control section  45  carries out control to display the data of the remaining tweets. 
         [0156]    If the control section  45  determines at the step S 16  that the data of all the acquired tweets has been displayed on the display apparatus  5 , on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to the step S 17  cited above. At the step S 17 , the control section  45  carries out control to reacquire the data of tweets for the difference from the preceding acquisition time. Then, the flow of the processing goes back to the step S 12  at which the control section  45  carries out control to acquire a tweet regarding the broadcast program being viewed from the tweet-information server  1 , storing the tweet and the acquisition time of the tweet in the storage apparatus  55 . 
         [0157]    If the tweet-information server  1  is out of order or if a communication failure occurs in the network  4 , no tweet data is displayed. The event of such a breakdown or the event of such a failure is equivalent to a case in which the number of acquired tweets is found to be 0 in the determination process carried out at the step S 13 . 
         [0158]    In accordance with the first embodiment described above, by making use of information on the position of a caption, the character information of a tweet is displayed at the position of the caption so that it is not necessary to provide another window to be used for displaying the tweet. 
         [0159]    In addition, since the character information of a tweet is displayed at a position determined by a broadcasting station as the position of a caption, it is possible to display the character information of a tweet without improperly veiling a position on the program image existing in the background of an area allocated to the caption. 
       1-1: Modified Version 
       [0160]      FIG. 10  is a block diagram showing main sections composing a modified version of the image processing apparatus  3  according to the first embodiment. 
         [0161]    The modified version is configured to generate specification information which is a hash-tag in the case of this modified version on the basis of characters included in EPG information (or SI information) transmitted from a broadcasting station along with a broadcast program, and acquire tweet information regarding the broadcast program. The following description explains the modified version by focusing the discussion on differences between the image processing apparatus  3 A shown in  FIG. 10  and the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 8 . 
         [0162]    In comparison with the image processing apparatus  3 , the image processing apparatus  3 A is configured to newly include a character extraction section  71 , a character dictionary  72  and a Roman-character conversion section  73 . 
         [0163]    A specification-information generation section  48  acquires character information extracted by a program array information analysis section  54  from program array information and supplies the character information to the character extraction section  71 . The character information includes kanji and hiragana characters. 
         [0164]    The character extraction section  71  compares the character information acquired by the specification-information generation section  48  with characters registered in advance in the character dictionary  72 . If the character information acquired by the specification-information generation section  48  includes a character registered in advance in the character dictionary  72 , the character extraction section  71  supplies the character to the Roman-character conversion section  73 . The character dictionary  72  is typically a nonvolatile data recording apparatus which can be the storage apparatus  55 . 
         [0165]    The Roman-character conversion section  73  converts a kanji or hiragana character into katakana characters and converts the katakana characters into Roman characters. Then, the Roman-character conversion section  73  outputs the Roman characters to the specification-information generation section  48 . 
         [0166]    The specification-information generation section  48  creates specification information serving as a hash-tag in this case by, among others, appending the special character “#” to the head of the Roman characters received from the Roman-character conversion section  73 . Then, the specification-information generation section  48  transmits a URL based on the specification information to the tweet-information server  1  by way of the network communication section  47 . In response to the URL received from the specification-information generation section  48 , the tweet-information server  1  transmits tweet information regarding the broadcast program to the image processing apparatus  3 A employing the specification-information generation section  48 . In this way, the image processing apparatus  3 A is capable of acquiring tweet information automatically. 
         [0167]    As described above, the modified version of the first embodiment is capable of generating specification information on the basis of characters included in EPG information (or SI information), and automatically acquiring tweet information regarding the broadcast program from the specification information. Thus, the user is capable of easily acquiring tweet information regarding a program other than a program broadcasted by the broadcasting station without the need to create specification information. 
       2: Second Embodiment 
       [0168]    A second embodiment is a typical embodiment applying the principle of the character-information displaying processing, which is carried out by the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5  according to the first embodiment, to a video-picture recording apparatus  80 . 
         [0169]    First of all, the configuration of the video-picture recording apparatus  80  according to the second embodiment is explained as follows. 
         [0170]      FIG. 11  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the video-picture recording apparatus  80  according to the second embodiment. 
         [0171]    In  FIG. 11 , each component identical with its counterpart employed in the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5  is denoted by the same reference numeral as the counterpart and details of such a component are not explained. The video-picture recording apparatus  80  shown in  FIG. 11  employs a video-picture-recording processing section  81  in place of the image generation section  52  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5 , and employs a storage apparatus  55  serving as the recipient of the output of the video-picture-recording processing section  81  in place of the display apparatus  5  employed in the image processing apparatus  3 . The remaining components other than the video-picture-recording processing section  81  and the storage apparatus  55  have configurations common to the video-picture recording apparatus  80  and the image processing apparatus  3 . 
         [0172]    Next, the configuration of the video-picture-recording processing section  81  employed in the second embodiment is explained as follows. 
         [0173]      FIG. 12  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the video-picture-recording processing section  81 . As shown in the figure, the video-picture-recording processing section  81  is configured to include main sections which are an attribute-information analysis portion  82  and a recording portion  83 . It is assumed that, in this typical configuration, the character information of a tweet is inserted into a first caption whereas the character information of a caption is inserted into a second caption. 
         [0174]    The attribute-information analysis portion  82  has the same function as the attribute-information analysis portion  62  shown in  FIG. 6 . That is, the attribute-information analysis portion  82  analyzes the contents of attribute information received from the caption processing section  44  to find out desired information, and outputs the desired information to the recording portion  83 . The desired information includes the number of used captions, the size of the caption display area and the position of a caption in the caption display area. 
         [0175]    On the basis of the position information included in the attribute information as the position of a caption in the caption display area, the recording portion  83  inserts the character information of a caption or a tweet into a predetermined position of character information, which is included in the caption display area of image/sound data, and generates an image. Then, the recording portion  83  provides the storage apparatus  55  with the generated image including the character information already inserted into the predetermined position in the caption display area. 
         [0176]      FIG. 13  shows a flowchart representing typical processing carried out by the video-picture-recording processing section  81  according to the second embodiment to record a tweet. 
         [0177]    As shown in the figure, the flowchart begins with a step S 21  at which, first of all, the attribute-information analysis portion  82  employed in the video-picture-recording processing section  81  analyzes attribute information of a caption included in a received broadcast program. Then, at the next step S 22 , the attribute-information analysis portion  82  determines whether a first or second caption has not been used. If the attribute-information analysis portion  82  determines at the step S 22  that the first and second captions have been used, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 23  at which the recording portion  83  stores the first and second captions in the recording apparatus  55  as they are along with the video picture. 
         [0178]    If the attribute-information analysis portion  82  determines at the step S 22  that the first or second caption has not been used, on the other hand, the flow of the processing goes on to a step S 24  at which the recording portion  83  replaces the character information of the unused caption with the character information of a tweet. If only the second caption is available for example, a caption is inserted into the first caption as it is whereas the character information of a tweet is inserted into the caption position of the second caption on the basis of information on the caption position. 
         [0179]    Then, at the next step S 25 , the recording portion  83  records a video picture to be displayed into the storage apparatus  55 . The video picture to be displayed includes the character information of a tweet inserted into the caption position of the available second caption in the caption display area. Then, the processing represented by this flowchart is terminated at the end of the process carried out at the step S 25 . 
         [0180]    In accordance with the second embodiment explained above, it is possible to place the character information of a tweet at a caption position determined by a broadcasting station and record an image including the character information of the tweet in the storage apparatus  55 . Thus, at a recording time, it is possible to record the character information of a tweet without improperly veiling a position on the program image existing in the background of an area allocated to the caption. 
         [0181]    In addition, in accordance with the ARIB standard, two captions can be inserted into one broadcast program and the user is allowed to select any arbitrary one of the two captions. If the broadcasting station makes use of only one caption, the character information of a tweet can be inserted into the position of the other caption which is not used for displaying the character information of the other caption, and the character information of a tweet can thus be recorded along with the video picture of the broadcast program. In addition, if the character information of a tweet is stored as caption information, the character information of a tweet can be handled in the same way as a video picture recorded by adoption of the method in the past. Thus, the second embodiment is compatible even with other recording apparatus made by other companies as long as the other recording apparatus conform to typically the BD (Blue-ray Disk). 
         [0182]    It is to be noted that, at a recording time, attribute information is analyzed to determine whether or not a caption exists so as to determine whether or not the two caption positions are available. If the two caption positions are not available, one of the two caption positions can be selected and the character information of a tweet may be inserted into the selected caption position over a caption which would otherwise be displayed at the selected caption position. 
       3: Third Embodiment 
       [0183]    A third embodiment is a typical embodiment applying the principle of the character-information displaying processing, which is carried out by the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5  according to the first embodiment, to a reproduction apparatus  90 . 
         [0184]    First of all, the configuration of the reproduction apparatus  90  according to the third embodiment is explained as follows. 
         [0185]      FIG. 14  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the reproduction apparatus  90  according to the third embodiment. 
         [0186]    In  FIG. 14 , each component identical with its counterpart employed in the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5  is denoted by the same reference numeral as the counterpart and details of such a component are not explained. The reproduction apparatus  90  shown in  FIG. 14  employs a storage apparatus  55  in place of the program receiving section  41  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 5  to serve as a source for supplying the contents of a video picture including a caption. The remaining components other than the storage apparatus  55  have configurations common to the reproduction apparatus  90  and the image processing apparatus  3 . 
         [0187]    Next, the configuration of an image generation section  52  employed in the reproduction apparatus  90  according to the third embodiment is explained as follows. 
         [0188]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a typical internal configuration of the image generation section  52  employed in the reproduction apparatus  90  according to the third embodiment. The typical configuration shown in  FIG. 15  is identical with the configuration of the image generation section  52  employed in the image processing apparatus  3  shown in  FIG. 6  according to the second embodiment. It is assumed that, in the typical configuration shown in  FIG. 15 , the character information of a tweet is inserted into a first caption of the contents of a video picture including captions whereas the character information of a caption is inserted into a second caption of the contents, the contents being read out from the recording apparatus  55 . 
         [0189]    In accordance with the third embodiment, the character information of a tweet is placed at a caption position determined by a broadcasting station, and the contents of a recorded video picture are read out from a recording apparatus to reproduce the video picture. Thus, at a reproduction time, it is possible to reproduce the character information of a tweet without improperly veiling a position on a program image existing in the background of an area allocated to the caption. 
         [0190]    In the embodiments described above, the character information of a tweet having a character count within a predetermined number of characters is explained as a typical example of character information to be displayed on a screen along with a broadcast program. However, the character information to be displayed on a screen along with a broadcast program does not have to be the character information of such a tweet. For example, what is written on an electronic board or the like can also be taken as an example of such character information. That is, the character information to be displayed on a screen along with a broadcast program can be any other character information as long as the other character information can be expressed by a relatively short sentence. The effects of the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be obtained as well for such a relatively short sentence. 
         [0191]    In addition, the present disclosure can also be applied as well even to a standard other than the ARIB standard which is a Japanese digital broadcasting standard. Typical examples of the other standard are the DVB which is the European digital broadcasting standard and the ATSC which is the American digital broadcasting standard provided that information on the display position of a caption is included in the character information for a broadcast program. 
         [0192]    It is to be noted that, in the typical configuration shown in  FIG. 1 , the image processing apparatus  3  and the display apparatus  5  are provided separately from each other. However, the configuration of the character-information display system does not have to be the typical configuration shown in  FIG. 1 . For example, the character-information display system can also be a TV receiver having all the functions embedded therein. 
         [0193]    It is to be noted that the series of processes according to the embodiments described previously can be carried out by hardware or execution of software. If the series of processes described above is carried out by execution of software, programs composing the software can be installed into a computer embedded in dedicated hardware or a general-purpose computer. A general-purpose computer is a computer which can be made capable of carrying out a variety of functions by installing a variety of programs into the computer. 
         [0194]    In addition, the recording medium used for recording the program codes of the software for implementing the functions of each of the embodiments described above is provided to the system or the apparatus. Then, the computer (or a control section such as a CPU) of the system or the apparatus reads out the program codes recorded on the recording medium to execute the programs composing the software. In this way, it is possible to implement the functions of each of the embodiments described above. 
         [0195]    On top of that, as described above, by executing the program codes read out by the computer, it is possible to implement the functions of each of the embodiments explained so far. In addition, on the basis of instructions of the program codes, an OS operating on the computer carries out some or all of the actual processes. By carrying out some or all of the actual processes, it is possible to implement the functions of each of the embodiments explained above in some cases. 
         [0196]    In addition, in this specification of the present disclosure, steps of a flowchart representing the processing described above can of course be carried out in a prescribed order along the time axis. However, the steps do not have to be carried out in the prescribed order along the time axis. Instead, the steps can also be carried out concurrently or individually. That is, the processing represented by the flowchart may typically include parallel processing or object-oriented processing. 
         [0197]    It should be noted that the technique according to the present disclosure can also adopt configurations as will be described above. 
         [0198]    1: An image processing apparatus includes: 
         [0199]    a program receiving section configured to receive a broadcast program; 
         [0200]    a caption extraction section configured to extract caption character information composing a caption of the broadcast program received by the program receiving section and attribute information from the broadcast program; 
         [0201]    a video-picture extraction section configured to extract the video picture of the broadcast program received by the program receiving section; 
         [0202]    a communication section configured to carry out communications with an apparatus external to the image processing apparatus; 
         [0203]    a character-information acquisition section configured to acquire character information created in association with the broadcast program from a server, in which a plurality of pieces of such character information have been stored, by way of the communication section; and 
         [0204]    an image generation section configured to output the video picture including the character information inserted into the position of the caption character information on the video picture, to a display apparatus on the basis of information on the position of the caption character information, the position information being included in the attribute information. 
         [0205]    2: The image processing apparatus like the one described as a paragraph 1 further includes: 
         [0206]    a program-information acquisition section configured to acquire information on the broadcast program received by the program receiving section along with the broadcast program; and 
         [0207]    a specification-information generation section configured to generate specification information used for specifying the character information associated with broadcasting-station information included in the information on the broadcast program, and acquiring the character information from the server, 
         [0208]    wherein the communication section transmits the specification information to the server; and 
         [0209]    the character-information acquisition section receives the character information associated with the broadcasting-station information, the character information being transmitted by the server in response to the specification information. 
         [0210]    3: The image processing apparatus like the one described as the paragraph 1 further includes 
         [0211]    a specification-information generation section configured to generate specification information used for specifying the character information associated with information set by the user, and acquiring the character information from the server, 
         [0212]    wherein: the communication section transmits the specification information to the server; and 
         [0213]    the character-information acquisition section receives the character information associated with the information set by the user, the character information being transmitted by the server in response to the specification information. 
         [0214]    4: The image processing apparatus like the one described as the paragraph 1 further includes: 
         [0215]    a program-information acquisition section configured to acquire information on the broadcast program received by the program receiving section along with the broadcast program; 
         [0216]    a character recording apparatus in which a plurality of characters have been registered; 
         [0217]    a character extraction section configured to extract a character from the information on the broadcast program, and acquiring a character corresponding to the extracted character from among the characters registered in a character dictionary; 
         [0218]    a Roman-character conversion section configured to convert the corresponding character acquired by the character extraction section into a Roman character; and 
         [0219]    a specification-information generation section configured to generate specification information used for specifying the character information associated with the Roman character, and acquiring the character information from the server, 
         [0220]    wherein the communication section transmits the specification information to the server; and 
         [0221]    the character-information acquisition section receives the character information associated with information set by the user, the character information being transmitted by the server in response to the specification information. 
         [0222]    5: In the image processing apparatus like the apparatus described as any one of paragraphs 2 to 4, the image generation section includes a character-information select portion configured to select the caption character information or the character information in accordance with set information as character information to be inserted into the position of the caption character information in the video picture. 
         [0223]    6: In the image processing apparatus like the apparatus described as any one of the paragraphs 2 to 5, the image generation section inserts pieces of the character information acquired by the character-information acquisition section from the server into the position of the caption character information in the video picture in an order of character-information acquisition times at fixed time intervals. 
         [0224]    7: In the image processing apparatus like the apparatus described as any one of the paragraphs 2 to 6, the character information is a character string having a character count within a predetermined number of characters. 
         [0225]    8: A video-picture recording apparatus includes: 
         [0226]    a program receiving section configured to receive a broadcast program; 
         [0227]    a caption extraction section configured to extract caption character information composing a caption of the broadcast program received by the program receiving section and attribute information from the broadcast program; 
         [0228]    a video-picture extraction section configured to extract the video picture of the broadcast program received by the program receiving section; 
         [0229]    a communication section configured to carry out communications with an apparatus external to the image processing apparatus; 
         [0230]    a character-information acquisition section configured to acquire character information created in association with the broadcast program from a server, in which a plurality of pieces of such character information have been stored, by way of the communication section; and 
         [0231]    a video-picture-recording processing section configured to output the video picture including the character information inserted into the position of the caption character information on the video picture, to a display apparatus on the basis of information on the position of the caption character information, the position information being included in the attribute information. 
         [0232]    It is to be noted that implementations of the present disclosure are not limited to the embodiments described above. That is, the present disclosure can also be implemented as one of a variety of modified versions obtained by changing the embodiments and applied to a variety of applications without departing from the spirit and scope of claims described in the specification of the present disclosure. 
         [0233]    The present disclosure contains subject matter related to that disclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2011-118903 filed in the Japan Patent Office on May 27, 2011, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.