Display control apparatus and method and program

Disclosed herein is a display control apparatus including: a selecting block configured to select from programs to be broadcast on each channel, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword; and a display controlling block configured to display predetermined information in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a program selected by said selecting block is broadcast among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of a selectable channel and, when a predetermined operation is executed in a status in which a channel with said predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon is selected, displaying said keyword contained in program information of a program to be broadcast on a selected channel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2005-252152 filed on Aug. 31, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a display control apparatus and method and a program and, more particularly, to a display control apparatus and method and a program for displaying screens that users can view with ease and displaying keywords by which program selection has been made as need arises.

2. Description of the Related Art

Some of the recently marketed television receivers and digital recording devices including hard disc recorders and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders have capabilities of presenting programs suited to user preferences as recommended programs.

For recommended programs, these programs which have user-registered keywords in program information are selected from among the programs of which program information has been obtained on the basis of EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data, for example Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., “PX500 Series Plasma Television/Liquid Crystal Display Television “VIERA”, Panasonic”, (Searched on Aug. 23, 2005), Internet, <URL:http//panasonic.jp/viera/products/px500/network.html> discloses a technique in which a program considered to be suited to user preference is selected from those scheduled to be broadcast and a recommendation marker is attached to a column of a program guide in which information about the selected program is displayed in radio/television program column, along with information associated with the title and cast of the program.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is also proposed to display, along with program titles, information such as a keyword by which program recommendation has been made onto a screen for displaying selected recommended programs in a list form. This technique allows the user to make a confirmation of the reason why a particular program has been selected as a recommended program, thereby using the keyword information for the selection of a program to be viewed or a program to be recorded. However, this technique needs the allocation of an area in which to display a keyword, thereby accordingly reducing the number of programs that can be displayed on one screen.

If a marker indicative that a particular program is recommended is displayed without displaying the information by which the recommendation has been made, it is obviously difficult for the user to make a confirmation of the reason why that program has been recommended.

Therefore, the present invention addresses the above-identified and other problems associated with related-art methods and apparatuses and solves the addressed problems by providing a display control apparatus and method and a program that are capable of displaying screens that the user can view with ease and displaying keywords by which program selections have been made as need arises.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a display control apparatus. This apparatus has a selection block for selecting, from programs to be broadcast on each channel, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword; and a display controlling block for displaying predetermined information in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a program selected by the selecting block is broadcast among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of a selectable channel and, when a predetermined operation is executed in a status in which a channel with the predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon is selected, displaying the keyword contained in program information of a program to be broadcast on a selected channel.

The above-mentioned display control apparatus further has a registration block for registering, for each user, keywords specified by a plurality of users, wherein the selecting block selects a program of which program information contains a keyword specified by a user from programs to be broadcast on each channel.

The above-mentioned display control apparatus further has a registration block for registering, for each user, keywords specified by a plurality of users, wherein the selecting block selects a program of which program information contains the keyword specified by a plurality of users from programs to be broadcast on each channel and the display controlling block displays information that is different for different users who specified a keyword on which program selection is based in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a program selected by the selecting block is broadcast.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a display control method or a display control program. The program control method or the program control program has the steps of selecting, from programs to be broadcast on each channel, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword; and displaying predetermined information in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a selected program is broadcast among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of a selectable channel and, when a predetermined operation is executed in a status in which a channel with the predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon is selected, displaying the keyword contained in program information of a program to be broadcast on a selected channel.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword is selected from programs to be broadcast on each channel and predetermined information is displayed in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a selected program is broadcast, from among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of selectable channels. When a predetermined operation is executed in a status in which a channel with the predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon, the above-mentioned keyword contained in the program information of a program to be broadcast on the selected channel is displayed.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, screens that are easy for users to view are displayed and keywords on the basis of which broadcast programs are selected are displayed as need arises.

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention will be described in further detail by way of embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention described herein and the embodiments thereof have the following correlation. The description hereof is intended to make sure of the fact that the embodiments supporting the invention described herein are described herein. Therefore, if there is any embodiment that, although described in the description of the preferred embodiment, is not described herein as corresponding to the invention, this does not denote in any manner that such an embodiment does not corresponding to the present invention. Conversely, if any embodiment is described herein as corresponding to the invention, it does not denote in any manner that such an embodiment does not corresponding to other inventions than the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a display control apparatus (for example, a DTV 1 shown inFIG. 1) has selecting means (a service module103shown inFIG. 9for example) for selecting, from programs to be broadcast on each channel, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword; and display controlling means (a BS broadcast plug-in113shown inFIG. 9for example) for displaying predetermined information (a star-shaped icon for example) in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a program selected by the selecting means is broadcast among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of a selectable channel and, when a predetermined operation (an operation of an option key arranged on a remote controller for example) is executed in a status in which a channel with the predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon is selected, displaying the keyword contained in program information of a program to be broadcast on a selected channel.

The above-mentioned display control apparatus further has registration means (a setting plug-in111shown inFIG. 9for example) for registering, for each user, keywords specified by a plurality of users.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the program control method or the program control program according to one aspect of the present invention has the steps of selecting (step S24shown inFIG. 11for example), from programs to be broadcast on each channel, a program of which program information contains a registered keyword and displaying (step S26shown inFIG. 11for example) predetermined information in the vicinity of an icon indicative of a channel on which a selected program is broadcast among icons to be displayed in line as information indicative of a selectable channel and, when a predetermined operation is executed in a status in which a channel with the predetermined information displayed in the vicinity of an icon is selected, displaying the keyword contained in program information of a program to be broadcast on a selected channel.

The following describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to accompanying drawings.

Now, referring toFIG. 1, there is shown an exemplary configuration of the DTV 1 practiced as one embodiment of the invention.

The DTV 1 is configured as connected in components thereof to a control block11made up of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for example via a bus12.

A terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13receives a terrestrial analog television broadcast signal under the control of the control block11, demodulates the received signal, and outputs resultant image signal (or a video signal) and audio signal to the bus12via an interface (I/F)14. The control block11gives a command to the terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13to receive a channel selected by the user by use of a remote controller31. Likewise, the control block11gives commands to other broadcast receiver blocks in accordance with the operations done by the user.

The terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15, corresponding to digital television broadcast and data broadcast, receives terrestrial digital broadcasts under the control of the control block11. The terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15outputs the image audio signals and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data for example of each program obtained by decoding the received broadcast signal to the bus12via an interface (I/F)16.

A BS (Broadcasting Satellite) broadcast receiver block17, corresponding to BS television broadcast, BS audio broadcast (or radio broadcast), and data broadcast, receives BS digital broadcast under the control of the control block11. The BS broadcast receiver block17outputs the image and audio signals and EPG data for example of each program obtained by decoding the received broadcast signal to the bus12via an interface (I/F)18.

A CS (Communications Satellite) broadcast receiver block19, corresponding to CS television broadcast, CS audio broadcast, and data broadcast, receives CS digital broadcast under the control of the control block11. The CS broadcast receiver block19outputs the image and audio signals and EPG data for example of each program obtained by decoding the received broadcast signal to the bus12via the interface (I/F)20.

A display image generator/output block21displays a variety of images onto a display22under the control of the control block11. For example, the display image generator/output block21displays the images of a program onto the display22on the basis of the image data supplied from the terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15, the BS broadcast receiver block17, or the CS broadcast receiver block19via the bus12. The audio signal of the received program is sounded from a speaker24under the control of the control block11for example in synchronization with the image of the program outputted from the display image generator/output block21.

The display image generator/output block21has an OSD (On Screen Display) capability by which a menu screen that is GUI (Graphical User Interface) for allowing the user to execute various operations through the DTV 1 is displayed on the display22under the control of the control block11. The data about icons such as characters and symbols to be arranged on the menu screen is stored in a display data storage block41of a memory32.

Further, the display image generator/output block21switches between menu screens in accordance with notification by the control block11of a menu screen operation done by the user.

The display22, based on an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for example, displays program images and menu screens for example under the control of the display image generator/output block21via the bus12and a display interface (I/F)23. Menu screens to be shown in the display22will be detailed later.

The speaker24sounds the audio data supplied from the terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15, the BS broadcast receiver block17, or the CS broadcast receiver block19via the bus12and an audio output interface (I/F)25, under the control of the control block11and so on.

A memory card drive26reads data from a memory card27loaded in a slot arranged in a housing of the DTV 1 and writes data to the memory card27loaded in that slot. The memory card drive26reads such data from the memory card27, for example, as still picture data taken with a digital camera and outputs the read data to the display image generator/output block21via the bus12. The display image generator/output block21displays still images on the basis of the data read from the memory card27.

An external input/output interface (I/F)28transmits and receives data (or signals) with devices connected to such external input/output terminals28-1through28-nvia various cables as a video input/output terminal, an audio input/output terminal, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal, an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 terminal, and an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) terminal.

For example, if a digital camera or an audio player is connected to the DTV 1 via a USB cable, the external input/output interface (I/F)28captures the still picture data taken with the digital camera or the audio data stored in the audio player. In addition, if a hard disc recorder (HDR) is connected to the DTV 1 via an IEEE 1394 cable, the external input/output interface (I/F)28stores the program data (video signal and audio signal) of a digital broadcast obtained by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15into the HDR via an IEEE 1394 cable or obtains the program data from the HDR via the IEEE 1394 cable to display the obtained data onto the display image generator/output block21as program images.

A communication interface (I/F)29transmits and receives data with various devices via a network. For example, if a network-compatible recording/reproducing device is connected to the DTV 1 via network, the communication interface (I/F)29stores the program data of a digital broadcast obtained by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15into the connected recording/reproducing device or displays the program data supplied from the connected recording/reproducing device onto the display image generator/output block21via network as program images.

A light receiver block30receives infrared radiation from a remote controller31and outputs a signal obtained by demodulating the received infrared radiation, which corresponds to an operation done by the user, to the control block11via the bus12. The remote controller31has a cross key, an enter key, and a home key for displaying a menu screen, for example.

The memory32, made up of a flash memory, has a display data storage block41and an EPG data storage block42. The display data storage block41stores data of icons for displaying menu screens. The EPG data storage block42stores EPG data obtained from the terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15, the BS broadcast receiver block17, and the CS broadcast receiver block19. The EPG data contains the station name (or channel name), title, broadcast start time, broadcast end time, cast, genre, and so on of each program and is used for displaying each program guide. It should be noted that EPG data obtained by the communication interface (I/F)29by downloading from a predetermined server may be stored in the EPG data storage block42to be used for displaying a program guide.

The following describes menu screens to be displayed by the DTV 1 configured as described above.

Now, referring toFIG. 2, there is shown an exemplary menu screen to be displayed on the display22.

A menu screen as shown inFIG. 2is displayed when the user presses the home key arranged on the remote controller31, for example. This displayed menu screen allows the user to execute various selective operations, such as the selection of broadcast channels, the selection of programs broadcast on a selected channel, and the selection of various capabilities of the DTV 1. It should be noted that dashed lines shown inFIG. 2are provided for the convenience of description and therefore not actually shown on the menu screen.

The menu screen is configured such that category icon array R1in which a plurality of category icons are lined up and item icon array R2in which item icons indicative of items belonging to a category chosen from the category icons arranged in category icon array R1cross each other at an upper left position relative to the center of the screen.

As shown inFIG. 2, category icon array R1is displayed in the horizontal (or lateral) direction of the display22and item icon array R2is displayed in a direction perpendicular to category icon array R1(or in the vertical direction of the display22). The data about icons forming these arrays is stored in the display data storage block41shown inFIG. 1.

category icon array R1is configured by arranging nine types of category icons, for example. Each of the icons will be detained later. In the example shown inFIG. 2, a photo icon51indicative of category “photo”, a music icon52indicative of category “music”, a video icon53indicative of category “video”, a terrestrial broadcast icon54indicative of category “terrestrial broadcast”, a BS broadcast icon55indicative of category “BS broadcast”, a CS broadcast icon56indicative of category “CS broadcast”, and an external input icon57indicative of category “external input” are displayed among the nine types of categories.

When the user operates the remote controller31to switch between display ranges, a setting icon indicative of category “setting” and a network icon indicative of category “network” are displayed accordingly.

In the example shown inFIG. 2, the video icon53is selected from the category icons arranged horizontally and this selected video icon53is displayed slightly larger than the other category icons. Below the video icon53, text “video” indicative that video category is selected is displayed.

In the example shown inFIG. 2, item icons61through63are displayed as icons indicative of items belonging to video category selected by the user. The number of icons belonging to a particular category depends thereon; for example, as shown inFIG. 2, icons indicative of a predetermined number of icons are shown in the menu screen.

An item icon61is indicative of an item to be selected when setting timer recording. An item icon62is indicative of an item to be selected when checking the contents of timer recording. An item icon63is indicative of the HDR connected to the DTV 1 via IEEE 1394 cable. Selecting the item icon63, the user can reproduce a program recorded to the HDR, for example.

In the example shown inFIG. 2, the item icon61is selected from an item icon group of item icons61through63and the selected item icon61is displayed as in a cursor71. To the right of the item icon61, text “timer recording” is displayed, indicating that the selection of this icon allows the setting of timer recording.

On a menu screen such as described above, the user basically can select a category by horizontally operating (or operating horizontally arranged keys on) the cross key on the remote controller31and an item belonging to the selected category by vertically operating (or operating vertically arranged keys on) the cross key.

In accordance with a horizontal operation done by the user, all icons forming category icon array R1collectively move to be displayed. In accordance with a vertical operation done by the user, all item icons forming item icon array R2collectively move to be displayed.

For example, if the user presses the left button once in a status in which with “video” is selected, all category icons forming category icon array R1move to the right, the music icon52is displayed at the position at which the video icon53is currently displayed, and the photo icon51is displayed at the position at which the music icon52is currently displayed. At the position at which the photo icon51is displayed, the setting icon indicative of “setting” arranged to the left of the photo icon51in category icon array R1for example is displayed.

Likewise, the video icon53is displayed at the position at which the terrestrial broadcast icon54is displayed. The terrestrial broadcast icon54is displayed at the position at which the BS broadcast icon55is displayed. The BS broadcast icon55is displayed at the position at which CS broadcast icon56is displayed. The CS broadcast icon56is displayed at the position at which the external input icon57is displayed. The external input icon57shown at the right end inFIG. 2disappears.

Consequently, “music” is selected in place of “video”, thereby lining up the item icons belonging to “music” in the vertical direction as item icon array R2.

On the other hand, if the user presses the right-side button once in the status shown inFIG. 2, then, unlike the pressing of the left-side button, all category icons forming category icon array R1move to the left, entering a status in which “terrestrial broadcast” is selected. At the same time, item icons belonging to category “terrestrial broadcast” are displayed as lined up in the vertical direction as item icon array R2.

If the user presses the lower button once in status shown inFIG. 2, all item icons forming item icon array R2move upward. The item icon61is displayed over the video icon53. The item icon62is displayed at the position at which the item icon61is currently displayed. At this moment, text “timer recording checking” is displayed to the right of the cursor71, indicating that the item icon62is selected to check the contents of timer recording.

The item icon63is displayed at the position at which the item icon62is currently displayed. At the position at which the icon63is displayed, an item icon to be lined up below the item icon63as an item icon forming item icon array R2is newly displayed.

On the other hand, if the user presses the upper button once in the status shown inFIG. 2, this operation is invalid (that is, no display switching takes place) because there is no item icon to be lined up over the item icon61as an item icon forming item icon array R2.

Referring toFIG. 3, there is shown another exemplary display of the menu screen.

If the enter key arranged on the remote controller31is pressed in the status shown inFIG. 2in which “timer recording”, one of items belonging to video category, is selected, the screen shown inFIG. 3is switched to a screen shown inFIG. 2. After the switching, icons indicative of items defined as items of layers below “timer recording” are displayed as lined up in the vertical direction. To the right of each of these icons, a text describing the icon is displayed.

The example shown inFIG. 3displays icons and corresponding texts associated with an item for specifying a time zone for recording a program to be broadcast by terrestrial digital broadcasting, an item for specifying a time zone for recording a program to be broadcast by BS digital broadcasting, an item for specifying a time zone for recording a program to be broadcast by CS digital broadcasting (CS1), and an item for specifying a time zone for recording a program to be broadcast by CS digital broadcasting (CS2).

Selecting a predetermined item from the items displayed as lined up in the vertical direction allows the user to specify a recording time zone for a program to be broadcast by each broadcasting wave. For example, the cursor71is displayed as selecting the item of terrestrial digital broadcast displayed in the top layer of the items of lower layers. In this status, the user can switch between the items to be selected by vertical operation and, at the same time, select a predetermined item by pressing the enter key.

It should be noted that, in the example shown inFIG. 3, category icons forming category icon array R1disappears from the screen except for the selected video icon53and the display position of item icon array R2moves to the left end of the screen, thereby displaying, in the empty space, icons indicative of items of lower layers and texts corresponding to these icons.

Referring toFIG. 4, there is shown still another example of the menu screen.

When the right-side button of the cross key is pressed once in the status shown inFIG. 2in which the video category is selected from category icon array R1, “terrestrial broadcast” is put in the selected status and the item icons belonging to “terrestrial broadcast” are displayed as lined up in the vertical direction.

In the example shown inFIG. 4, item icons81and82are displayed over the terrestrial broadcast icon54and channel icons83through86are displayed below the terrestrial broadcast icon54.

The item icon81is indicative of an item to be selected to display a program guide of programs to be broadcast by terrestrial analog broadcasting. The item icon82is indicative of an item to be selected to display a program guide of programs to be broadcast by terrestrial digital broadcasting. The channel icons83through86are indicative of channel1, channel3, channel4, and channel5respectively.

By pressing the vertical buttons of the cross key, the user can switch between items to be selected by the cursor71. By pressing the enter key with a predetermined item selected, the user can display a program guide or view a program being broadcast on a selected channel in accordance with an item selected at that moment.

In the example shown inFIG. 4, channel1is selected. To the left of the cursor71, text “terrestrial analog television” indicative of a group to which the selected channel belongs is displayed. “Terrestrial broadcast” has a group of “terrestrial analog television” (a group of programs to be received by the terrestrial analog broadcast receiver block13shown inFIG. 1) and a group of “terrestrial digital television” (a group of programs to be received by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver block15shown inFIG. 1). When a channel belonging to the group of “terrestrial digital television” is selected, a text indicative thereof is displayed.

To the right of the cursor71, the title “movie “XXOO□XX”” of a program to be broadcast on selected channel1, “MHK general channel” indicative of the name of broadcast channel, and “AM 10:00-12:00” indicative of broadcast time zone (broadcast start time and broadcast end time) are displayed in two lines. These pieces of information are displayed on the basis of the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage block42. If another channel is selected, a program title and other information are likewise displayed to the right of an icon indicative of the selected channel. It should be noted that, in the menu screen shown inFIG. 4, a network icon58indicative of “network” is displayed to the right of category icon array R1.

Referring toFIG. 5, there is shown an exemplary definition map defining arrays of categories and items.

“Setting” is a category associated with various setting operations. Category “setting” has items “demonstration mode” to be selected when displaying a demonstration screen, “inquiry” to be selected when displaying destination of inquiry, “notice” to be selected when displaying messages from manufacturer, and “keyword hit setting” to be selected when registering a keyword that provides a reference for selecting a recommended program selected by the DTV 1 when displaying this recommended program in this order from top down.

Category “setting” also has items “image quality” to be selected when setting an image quality, “sound quality” to be selected when setting a sound quality, “screen mode” when setting a screen mode, and “display setting” to be selected when setting display. Further, category “setting” has items “broadcast setting” to be selected when setting data associated with broadcast to be received, and “timer-recording setting” to be selected when setting timer-recording. Further, category “setting” has items “external input/output setting” to be selected when setting an external device to be connected to the DTV 1, and “audio input/output setting” to be selected when setting audio input/output operation.

Further, category “setting” includes items “photo setting” to be selected when setting data associated with display of still pictures, “memory card setting” to be selected when setting data associated with the memory card27, “IEEE 1394 device setting” to be selected when setting a device to be connected via IEEE 1394 cable, and “network device setting” to be selected when setting data associated with a device to be connected via a network. Further, category “setting” includes items “power consumption setting” to be selected when setting the power supply mode of the DTV 1, “communication setting” to be selected when setting data associated with the communication capabilities, “other settings” to be selected when setting other settings, “device information” to be selected when displaying information such as serial number of the DTV 1, and “simplified setting” to be selected when displaying a wizard associated with setting.

“Photo” is a category associated with the display of still pictures. Category “photo” has items, from top down, “DLNA device” to be selected when capturing a still image from a digital camera compliant with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) to be connected to the DTV 1 via network and displaying the captured still image and “memory card/USB” to be selected when capturing a still image from the memory card27or a digital camera connected via USB cable and displaying the captured still image onto the display22.

“Music” is a category associated with music. Category “music” has, from top down, items “DLNA device” to be selected when capturing music from an audio player compliant with DLNA connected to the DTV 1 via network and sounding the captured music form the speaker24and “memory card/USB” to be selected when capturing music from the memory card27or an audio player connected via USB cable and sounding the captured music from the speaker24.

“Video” is a category associated with the recording of a program. Category “video” has, from top down, items “timer recording” to be selected when setting timer recording and “timer recording checking” to be selected when checking contents of timer recording.

Category “video” also has items “IEEE 1394 device” to be selected when recording a program to a recording/reproducing device connected via IEEE 1394 cable or reproducing a program from the recording/reproducing device, “DLNA device” to be selected when recording a program to a recording/reproducing device compliant with DLNA connected to the DTV 1 via network or reproducing the program from the recording/reproducing device, and “memory card/USB” to be selected when reproducing a moving image from the memory card27or a device connected via USB cable.

“Terrestrial broadcast” is a category associated with terrestrial analog broadcast and terrestrial digital broadcast. Category “terrestrial broadcast” has, from top down, items “terrestrial D data EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of data broadcast, “terrestrial D TV EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by terrestrial digital broadcast, and “terrestrial A EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by terrestrial analog broadcast.

Category “terrestrial broadcast” also has “Terrestrial A Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a terrestrial analog broadcast channel to view a program, “Terrestrial D TV Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a terrestrial digital broadcast channel to view a program, and “Terrestrial D Data Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a data broadcast channel to view a program.

“BS broadcast” is a category associated with BS digital broadcast. Category “BS broadcast” has, from top down, items “Data EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of data broadcast, “Radio EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by radio broadcasting, and “TV EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by BS digital broadcast.

Category “BS broadcast” also has items “TV Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a BS broadcast channel to view a program, “Radio Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a radio broadcast channel to listen to a radio program, and “Data Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a data broadcast channel to view a program.

“CS broadcast” is a category associated with CS digital broadcast. Category “CS broadcast” has, from top down, items “Data EPG” to be selected when displaying program guides of data broadcast of CS1and CS2, “Radio EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by radio broadcast, and “TV EPG” to be selected when displaying a program guide of programs to be broadcast by CS digital broadcast.

Category “CS broadcast” also has items “TV Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when a CS broadcast channel is selected to view a program, “Radio Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a radio broadcast channel to listen to a radio program, and “Data Ch” (channel icon) to be selected when selecting a data broadcast channel to view a program.

“External input” is a category associated with the switching of input signals from an external device into the DTV 1. Category “external input” has, from top down, items “LINE 1” through “LINE 3” to be selected when selecting the output of devices connected to terminals LINE1through LINE3, “Compo 1” and “Compo 2” to be selected when selecting the output of devices connected to terminals of composite1and composite2, “HDMI 1” and “HDMI 2” to be selected when selecting the output of devices connected to terminals of HDMI1and HDMI2, and “PC” to be selected when selecting output from a PC (Personal Computer).

“Network” is a category associated with various processing operations to be executed via network. Category “network” has item “Internet browser” to be selected when starting up an Internet browser and displaying a Web screen on the browser, for example.

Each item appropriately has lower-layer items. When a higher-layer item is selected, the selected item and lower-layer items thereof if any are displayed.

The following details of menu screens to be displayed when one of the broadcast categories (“terrestrial broadcast”, “BS broadcast”, and “CS broadcast”) is selected.

As described above with reference toFIG. 4, when “terrestrial broadcast” that is a broadcast category is selected from category icon array R1, channel icons and so on indicative of channels are displayed in the vertical direction and, beside the channel icon selected with the cursor71, information such as the title of a program to be broadcast on that channel is displayed. The DTV 1 also has a capability of selecting those programs which are suitable for user preference as recommended program; in the vicinity an icon (or a marker) indicative that the program is a recommended program is displayed in addition to the information such as program title.

Referring toFIG. 6, there is shown an exemplary display of a menu screen that is displayed when category “terrestrial broadcast” is selected.

In the example shown inFIG. 6, channel icons84through88indicative of channel3, channel4, channel5, channel6, and channel7respectively are lined up in the vertical direction, the channel icon85being selected with the cursor71.

To the right of the channel icon85, the information about a program to be broadcast on channel4is displayed as title “Ocean Deluxe”, channel name “MHK General Channel”, and broadcast time zone “AM 10:00-12:00”.

In the vicinity (or to the right) of the channel icon85, a star icon58A is shown as information. This start icon85A is indicative that currently selected “Ocean Deluxe” that is a program to be broadcast on channel4is a recommended program.

The recommendation of particular programs is executed by the DTV 1 depending on whether a keyword registered by the user beforehand is included in the program information. As described above, the program information such as title and cast is extracted from the EPG data for each program to be broadcast. Programs having the program information in which the user-registered keyword is included are selected as recommended programs.

For example, registering the name of cast of user preference beforehand causes the start icon to be displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of the channel on which a program in which the cast of user preference performs, so that the user can check for the start icon to select and view a program in which the cast of user preference performs.

It should be noted that, a status in which the information about a one program is displayed as shown inFIG. 6is indicative of the passing of a predetermined period of time after the selection of channel4by user's pressing the up and down button of the cross key.

For example, while the user is pressing the up and down button of the cross key to select a channel (namely, until a predetermined period of time after user's selecting one channel), the information about the programs to be broadcast on all channels for which channel icons are displayed. Like program “Ocean Deluxe” to be broadcast on channel4, a star icon is also displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of the program of which program information includes a user-registered keyword.

In an example shown inFIG. 7, the titles of programs to be broadcast on channel3, channel5, channel6, and channel7are displayed in addition to the information about the program to be broadcast on channel4. In the vicinity of the channel icon84indicative of channel3, the channel icon86indicative of channel5, and the channel icon87indicative of channel6, star icons84A,86A, and87A are displayed indicating that the programs to be broadcast on these channels are recommended programs, namely, the user-registered keyword is included in the information about the programs to be broadcast on these channels.

No star icon is shown beside the channel icon88, indicating that program “Madagascar” to be broadcast on channel7is not a program of user preference.

Thus, while the user is selecting channels by pressing the up or down button of the cross key, the information about the program to be broadcast on each channel is displayed as well as a star icon indicative user preference beside each channel icon (or channel number), thereby allowing the user to check for a star icon along a channel number.

Referring toFIG. 6again, when the user presses an option key arranged on the remote controller31for example with the channel having a star icon selected, a wider area is accordingly allocated to the selected channel than those allocated to other channels. Displayed in this allocated wider area is other information about a program to be broadcast on the selected channel than that previously shown.

For example, the above-mentioned other information includes the same keyword as that of registered by the user in advance, included in the program information.

Referring toFIG. 8, there is shown another exemplary display of the menu screen.

In the example shown inFIG. 8, all category icons except for the terrestrial broadcast icon54disappear and item icon array R2moves to the left from the position at which R2has been displayed.

In the example shown inFIG. 8, the channel icon85indicative of channel4is displayed larger than that shown inFIG. 6and a wider area is allocated to channel4than those allocated to other channels. Text “keyword hit” is displayed in the newly allocated wider area. To the right thereof, keywords “movie”, “comedy”, and “Pether Gramme” included in the program information are displayed in line. Namely, in this example, the user registered at least “movie”, “comedy”, and “Pether Gramme” as keywords beforehand.

In the right half of the screen, “Channel Selection” that is operated to select channel4to view “Ocean Deluxe” to be broadcast on channel4and “Program Description” to be obtained from EPG data and selected to display an outline of “Ocean Deluxe” are displayed as lower-layer items of a channel4program.

Checking the keywords displayed as above, the user is able to know the reason why “Ocean Deluxe” has been selected as a recommended program.

Further, keywords are displayed when a predetermined operation, such as pressing the option key arranged on the remote controller31for example, is executed, so that a screen friendlier to the user can be displayed than that shown inFIG. 7in which keywords are also displayed. If keywords were displayed as shown with the screen shown inFIG. 7, from the viewpoint of a display space, it has to reduce the number of channels that can be displayed in one screen, thereby reducing the size of lists. The information about programs to be broadcast on each channel needs to be displayed in smaller character size, which lowers a visibility.

The processing by the DTV 1 to realize the above-mentioned menu screen display capabilities will be described later with reference to a flowchart.

Referring toFIG. 9, there is shown an example of software (or an application program) to be provided for the DTV 1 to realize the menu screen display capabilities.

The DTV 1 has a menu screen display application101, a keyword registration application102, and service module103. The menu screen display application101has a setting plug-in111, a terrestrial broadcast plug-in112, a BS broadcast plug-in113, a CS broadcast plug-in114, and other plug-ins115.

A plug-in denotes a software module for realizing a capability of a selected item provided in the DTV 1. For example, in addition to the setting plug-in111, the terrestrial broadcast plug-in112, the BS broadcast plug-in113, and the CS broadcast plug-in114, a plug-in for realizing a capability associated with timer recording (a plug-in for realizing a capability of “timer recording” or “timer recording checking” shown inFIG. 5), a plug-in for controlling a DLNA device connected to the DTV 1 via network (a plug-in for realizing a capability of “DLNA device” shown inFIG. 5), and a plug-in for controlling a device connected to the DTV 1 via IEEE 1394 cable (a plug-in for realizing a capability of “IEEE 1394 device” shown inFIG. 5) are incorporated as other plug-ins115.

The menu screen display application101controls the display of the entire menu screen. For example, the menu screen display application101displays a menu screen composed of category icons and item icons by use of data stored in the display data storage block41and switches between menu screens in accordance with a user operation. In addition, the menu screen display application101notifies each plug-in of a category selected by the user every time a user operation is executed.

The setting plug-in111controls the display of a menu screen when category “setting” is selected. When information that category “setting” is selected comes from the menu screen display application101, the setting plug-in111displays item icons by use of data stored in the display data storage block41in accordance with the array shown inFIG. 5and, if there are lower-layer items when a predetermined item is selected, displays these lower-layer items.

For example, when item “keyword hit setting” (refer toFIG. 5) belonging to category “setting” is selected, the setting plug-in111displays items “keyword hit display” and “keyword registration” of a lower-layer of item “keyword hit setting”.

When item “keyword hit display” is selected, the setting plug-in111lets the user select on or off of a keyword display capability (or a keyword hit capability) as shown inFIG. 8, thereby setting the on or off of the keyword hit capability to the service module103. If item “keyword registration” is selected, the setting plug-in111starts up the keyword registration application102to execute keyword registration processing.

The terrestrial broadcast plug-in112controls the display of a menu screen when category “terrestrial broadcast” is selected. When information that category “terrestrial broadcast” is selected comes from the menu screen display application101, the terrestrial broadcast plug-in112displays item icons by use of data stored in the display data storage block41in accordance with the array shown inFIG. 5and, when a predetermined item is selected, displays lower-layer items if any.

For example, the terrestrial broadcast plug-in112enquires the service module103for the information about programs to be broadcast on the terrestrial analog broadcast channel and the terrestrial digital broadcast channel and displays the information about each program on the basis of a response from the service module103. This response from the service module103contains the information indicative whether a keyword is contained in the program information, in addition to the title, broadcast channel name, and broadcast time zone of each program. If a response that a keyword is contained in the program information for a particular program comes, the terrestrial broadcast plug-in112displays a star icon beside the channel icon of the channel on which that program is to be broadcast.

The BS broadcast plug-in113controls the display of a menu screen when category “BS broadcast” is selected. When information that category “BS broadcast” is selected comes from the menu screen display application101, the BS broadcast plug-in113displays item icons by use of data stored in the display data storage block41in accordance with the array shown inFIG. 5and, when a predetermined item is selected, displays lower-layer items if any.

For example, the BS broadcast plug-in113enquires the service module103for the information about a program to be broadcast on each BS broadcast channel and displays the information about each program on the basis of the response from the service module103. This response from the service module103contains the information indicative whether a keyword is contained in the program information, in addition to the title, broadcast channel name, and broadcast time zone of each program. If a response that a keyword is contained in the program information for a particular program comes, the BS broadcast plug-in113displays a star icon beside the channel icon of the channel on which that program is to be broadcast.

The CS broadcast plug-in114controls the display of a menu screen when category “CS broadcast” is selected. When information that category “CS broadcast” is selected comes from the menu screen display application101, the CS broadcast plug-in114displays item icons by use of data stored in the display data storage block41in accordance with the array shown inFIG. 5and, when a predetermined item is selected, displays lower-layer items if any.

For example, the CS broadcast plug-in114enquires the service module103for the information about a program to be broadcast on each CS broadcast channel and displays the information about each program on the basis of the response from the service module103. This response from the service module103contains the information indicative whether a keyword is contained in the program information, in addition to the title, broadcast channel name, and broadcast time zone of each program. If a response that a keyword is contained in the program information for a particular program comes, the CS broadcast plug-in114displays a star icon beside the channel icon of the channel on which that program is to be broadcast.

The keyword registration application102accepts the registration by the user of a keyword on the basis of which a recommended program is selected and registers the accepted keyword to the service module103. The keyword registration application102starts up when specified by the setting plug-in111, for example, thereby displaying a keyword registration screen.

The keyword registration by the user may be executed by operating a software keyboard displayed on the registration screen to enter a keyword into a predetermined entry box or by selecting a predetermined keyword from a keyword list displayed on the registration screen.

The service module103manages various pieces of data and settings for use in displaying the menu screen, thereby providing data to each application and each plug-in and notifying each application and each plug-in of the contents of setting. For example, the service module103provides the information about programs stored in the EPG data storage block42to the terrestrial broadcast plug-in112, the BS broadcast plug-in113, and the CS broadcast plug-in114.

The menu screen is displayed by executing the above-mentioned software programs by the control block11and the display image generator/output block21for example.

The following describes the processing to be executed by the DTV 1 with reference to flowcharts.

First, keyword registration processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown inFIG. 10.

When a home key on the remote controller31is pressed, the menu screen display application101displays a menu screen by use of data stored in the display data storage block41in step S1. Next, in step S2, the menu screen display application101switches between menu screens in accordance with a user operation. When an operation is executed by the user, a selected category is sent to a corresponding plug-in from the menu screen display application101.

If category “setting” is selected by the user and item “keyword hit setting” is selected from items belonging to category “setting”, the setting plug-in Ill displays “keyword hit display” and “keyword registration” that are items of a lower layer of item “keyword hit setting” in step S3.

If item “keyword registration” is selected, the setting plug-in111goes to step S4to start up the keyword registration application102.

In step S5, the keyword registration application102displays a keyword registration screen and goes to step S6to accept keyword registration to be executed by the user through the registration screen.

In step S7, the keyword registration application102registers the keyword entered by the user with the service module103. The registered keyword is stored in the memory32to be managed by the service module103.

When the keyword registration has been completed, the setting plug-in111returns to a status in which “keyword hit display” and “keyword registration” that are items of a lower layer of item “keyword hit setting” are displayed, in step S8.

In step S9, if item “keyword hit display” is selected, the setting plug-in111displays a screen for selecting the on or off of the keyword hit capability.

If the keyword hit capability is turned on by the user, the setting plug-in111registers the on status of the keyword hit capability to the service module103. In the service module103, a flag indicative of the status of the keyword hit capability is set as indicative of the on status, which is held as it is. Then, this processing exits.

The following describes keyword display processing with reference to the flowchart shown inFIG. 11. In the following description, the processing to be executed with category “BS broadcast” selected is used for example.

Processes of steps S21and S22are substantially the same as those of steps S1and S2shown inFIG. 10. Namely, when the home key on the remote controller31is pressed, the menu screen display application101displays a menu screen in step S21and goes to step S22to switch between menu screens in accordance with a user operation. If category “BS broadcast” is selected by the user, the menu screen display application101notifies the BS broadcast plug-in113of this selection.

In step S23, the BS broadcast plug-in113enquires the service module103for the information about a program to be broadcast on each BS broadcast channel.

In step S24, the service module103checks whether a keyword is contained in the program information for each program to be broadcast on each BS broadcast channel.

In step S25, the service module103sends to the BS broadcast plug-in113the information such as the title, channel name, and broadcast time zone of each program to be broadcast on each channel and the information indicative of the keyword inclusion as a response to the enquiry.

In step S26, the BS broadcast plug-in113displays the information including the title, channel name, and broadcast time zone of the program to be broadcast on each channel in the display range of the menu screen. At the same time, for program of which program information contains a keyword, the BS broadcast plug-in113displays a star icon beside the channel icon of the channel on which that program is broadcast. Consequently, the menu screens as shown inFIGS. 6 and 7are displayed.

In step S27, the BS broadcast plug-in113determines on the basis of a notification from the menu screen display application101for example whether the option key has been pressed with the program displayed beside a star icon selected with the cursor71. If the option is found pressed in this status, the BS broadcast plug-in113goes to step S28.

In step S28, the BS broadcast plug-in113notifies the service module103of the currently selected program, thereby enquiring for the keyword contained in the program information of that program.

In step S29, the service module103sends the keyword contained in the program information to the BS broadcast plug-in113.

In step S30, the BS broadcast plug-in113displays the keywords supplied from the service module103in line. Consequently, the keywords are lined up as shown inFIG. 8. This processing ends when the display of the keywords has been completed or if the option key is found not pressed in the state when the program having a star icon beside the channel icon selected with the cursor71as in step S27.

As described above, the keywords on the basis of which a recommended program is selected can be displayed by the above-mentioned processing when the user wanted.

In the above description, when item “keyword hit setting” is selected from items belonging to category “setting”, “keyword hit display” and “keyword registration” are displayed as items of a lower layer of item “keyword hit setting”. Alternatively, if registered keywords are managed for each user, item “user switching” may also be displayed as shown inFIG. 12.

For example, by selecting own name from a name list displayed when item “user switching” is selected, the user of the DTV 1 can have recommended program selection done on the basis of keywords registered by that user.

To be more specific, if user A has registered “movie” as a keyword, selecting “user A” from the screen as shown inFIG. 12allows the selection of a program with “movie” contained in the program information, as a recommended program. If user B has registered “sports” as a keyword, selecting “user B” from the screen as shown inFIG. 12allows the selection of a program with “sports” contained in the program information, as a recommended program.

In this case, if “user A” is selected from the screen as shown inFIG. 12, a star icon is displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of a program of which program information contains “movie” and a star icon is not displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of a program of which program information does not contain “movie”, in the menu screen. Likewise, if “user B” is selected from the screen as shown inFIG. 12, a star icon is displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of a program of which program information contains “sports” and a star icon is not displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of a program of which program information does not contain “sports”, in the menu screen.

Alternatively, rather than displaying a star icon beside the channel icon of a program selected on the basis of keywords registered by one user, a star icon may be displayed beside the channel icon of a program selected on the basis of keywords registered by other users.

Consequently, in the case of the above-mentioned example, stat icons are displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of the program of which program information contains keyword “movie” and the channel icon of the program of which program information contains item “sports” in the channel icon array to be displayed when any of the broadcast wave categories is selected.

It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned case, different icons may be displayed for different users who have registered keywords. For example, a star icon may be displayed in the vicinity of the channel icon of the program of which program information contains “movie” that is a keyword registered by user A and a circle (“◯”) icon in the vicinity of the channel icon of the program of which program information contains “sports” that is a keyword registered by user B.

Consequently, each user is able to confirm which program has been selected on the basis of the keyword registered by the user.

In addition to DTVs, the above-mentioned menu screen may be displayed by digital recording/reproducing devices, such as hard disc recorders and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders, and personal computers that handle program guides.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the icon indicative of each recommended program is star-shaped; however, icons of other shapes may be used to display various kinds of information.

The above-mentioned sequence of processing operations may be executed by software as well as hardware. When the above-mentioned sequence of processing operations is executed by software, the programs constituting the software are installed in a computer which is built in dedicated hardware equipment or installed, from a network or recording media, into a general-purpose personal computer for example in which various programs may be installed for the execution of various functions.

Referring toFIG. 13, there is shown an exemplary configuration of a personal computer for running programs for executing the above-mentioned sequence of processing operations. A CPU201executes various processing operations in accordance with programs stored in a ROM203or a storage block208. A RAM203appropriately stores programs and data that are necessary for the CPU201to execute processing operations. These CPU201, ROM202, and RAM203are interconnected by a bus204.

The CPU201is also connected to an input/output interface205via the bus204. The input/output interface205is connected to an input block206made up of a keyboard, a mouse, and microphones for example, and an output block207made up of a display and a speaker for example. The CPU201executes various processing operations in accordance with commands entered through the input block206. Then, the CPU201outputs processing results to the output block207.

The storage block208connected to the input/output interface205, made up of a hard disc drive for example, stores programs to be executed by the CPU201and data necessary for the execution. A communication block209communicates with external devices via networks, such as the Internet and a LAN (Local Area Network).

It is also practicable to obtain programs through the communication block209and stores the obtained programs into the storage block208.

A drive210connected to the input/output interface205drives removable media211, such as a magnetic disc, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, and a semiconductor memory loaded on the drive210, thereby obtaining programs and data therefrom. The obtained programs and data are stored in the storage block208as need arises.

As shown inFIG. 13, program recording media for storing programs that are installed on a computer for execution is made up of the removable media211that are package media made up of a magnetic disc (including a flexible disc), an optical disc (including CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disc, or a semiconductor memory, the ROM202in which programs are temporarily or permanently stored, or a hard disc drive that forms the storage block208. Storing of programs into program recording media is executed by use of wired or wireless communication media, such as a LAN, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting, via the communication block.209that provides an interface, such as a router and a modem, as need arises.

It should be noted herein that the steps for describing each program recorded in recording media include the processing operations which are sequentially executed in a time-dependent manner and also the processing operations which are executed concurrently or discretely.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purpose, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.