Abstract:
A method of displaying information on a terminal, the method including: receiving a message from another terminal during reproduction of content; assigning a part of a screen of the terminal for displaying information related to the message based on a priority order of the message; and displaying the information related to the message on the assigned part of the screen during the reproduction of the content which is being displayed on the rest of the screen.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/294,830, filed Jun. 3, 2014, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/635,890, filed Dec. 11, 2009, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0001944, filed Jan. 9, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to reproducing content, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for reproducing content stored in an information storage medium. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    As Blu-ray discs are widely used as information storage media for the next generation after digital versatile discs (DVDs), devices for playing the Blu-ray discs have been developed. 
         [0006]    In addition, since a two-way digital cable service called Tru2way has become the standard of cable broadcasting, multi-function devices for providing functions of a Blu-ray disc player and a digital cable set-top box are being rapidly developed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Exemplary embodiments of present invention provide a method and apparatus for reproducing content stored in an information storage medium, and a computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing the method. 
         [0008]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reproducing content stored in an information storage medium and receiving a service provided from a remote server, the apparatus including: a service processing unit receiving a message provided to a user in relation to the service from the server while reproducing the content stored in the information storage medium; an operating mode determination unit determining whether to continuously reproduce the content stored in the information storage medium and whether to display the message according to a priority order of the message; and a content reproducing unit performing at least one of reproducing the content stored in the information storage medium and displaying the message according to the determination. 
         [0009]    The information storage medium may be a blue-ray disc and the service may be a digital cable service. 
         [0010]    The content reproducing unit may stop reproducing of the content stored in the information storage medium and may display the message fully on a screen. 
         [0011]    The content reproducing unit may display the message and a digital cable channel relating to the message fully on the screen. 
         [0012]    The content reproducing unit may display the message on a part of a screen. 
         [0013]    The content reproducing unit may display the message and a digital cable channel relating to the message as Picture-in-Picture (PiP) on a part of the screen. 
         [0014]    The content reproducing unit may display icons relating to the message on a part of the screen. 
         [0015]    The content reproducing unit may display information relating to the priority order of the message on a part of the screen. 
         [0016]    The content reproducing unit may display the message after completely reproducing the content stored in the information storage medium. 
         [0017]    The message may be an emergency message, a message informing of the upgrading of software relating to the digital cable service, or a message informing of the upgrading of firmware of a cable card. 
         [0018]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of reproducing content executed in an apparatus for reproducing content stored in an information storage medium and receiving a service provided from a remote server, the method including: receiving a message provided to a user in relation to the service from the server while reproducing the content stored in the information storage medium; determining whether to continuously reproduce the content stored in the information storage medium and whether to display the message according to a priority order of the message; and performing at least one of reproducing the content stored in the information storage medium and displaying the message according to the determination. 
         [0019]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium having embodied thereon a program for executing the method of reproducing content. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The above and other features and aspects of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a content reproducing system including a multi-function device, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the multi-function device illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  3 C, and  3 D illustrate a method of displaying a message, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a method of reproducing content, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating the multi-function device illustrated in  FIG. 1 , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. 
         [0027]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a content reproducing system  100  including a multi-function device  120 , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0028]    The multi-function device  120  simultaneously provides functions of reproducing content stored in an information storage medium and receiving a predetermined service from a server  140 . For example, the multi-function device  120  may simultaneously provide functions of a Blue-ray disc player and a digital cable set-top box. A digital cable service may be a two-way digital cable service, such as “Tru2Way”, provided through a cable-broadcasting network  130 . In this case, the server  140  provides digital cable content. 
         [0029]    Hereinafter, a Blue-ray disc is described as an information storage medium and a digital cable service is described as a service provided from the server  140 . However, the present exemplary invention is not limited thereto and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that all multi-function devices receiving content from other information storage media and receiving other services may apply. 
         [0030]    The multi-function device  120  reproduces content stored in a Blue-ray disc or receives a digital cable service from the server  140  so as to display the received service on a display device  110 . Since the multi-function device  120  decodes and reproduces content stored in a Blue-ray disc according to the to Blue-ray standards, and receives a digital cable service according to the standards of digital cable service, reproduction of content stored in a Blue-ray disc and reception of the digital cable service do not affect each other. 
         [0031]    The digital cable service according to “Tru2Way” defines a message forcefully displayed on a screen and a channel related to the message. For example, the digital cable service forcefully displays a predetermined emergency message, when an emergency such as an accident or a natural disaster occurs, and a channel related to the emergency message on a screen according to an Emergency Alert System (EAS). 
         [0032]    Accordingly, the priority order of the message is classified as ‘Test’, ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, ‘High’, and ‘Maximum’. In ‘Maximum,’ the message and the channel related to the message are forcefully displayed on a screen. In ‘High,’ only the message is forcefully displayed on a screen. 
         [0033]    Since the multi-function device  120  simultaneously reproduces content stored in a Blue-ray disc and receives the digital cable service, the processing of the emergency message is not defined therein. For example, when the multi-function device  120  receives an emergency message through the digital cable service while operating as a Blue-ray player, whether to pause or stop reproducing the content for displaying the emergency message or whether to continuously reproduce the content is not defined because the functions of Blue-ray player and the functions of a digital cable set-top box are separately operated according to their respective standards. 
         [0034]    With regard to the upgrading of the digital cable set-top box, the same problem occurs. For example, when the multi-function device  120  needs to upgrade software relating to the digital cable service and the user does not know the progress of the upgrading, malfunctions of the multi-function device  120  may occur. In addition, when the multi-function device  120  receives predetermined data from the server  140  and upgrades the firmware of a cable card needed to use the digital cable service, if the upgrading status is not known by a user, malfunctions may occur due to an accident such as forced separation of the cable card during the upgrading of firmware. 
         [0035]    Accordingly, a method and apparatus for appropriately displaying the message received from the server  140  on the display device  110 , while the multi-function device  120  reproduces content stored in a Blue-ray disc, are required and are described in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 2 through 5 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the multi-function device  120 . 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the multi-function device  120  includes a service processing unit  210 , an operating mode determination unit  220 , and a content reproducing unit  230 . 
         [0038]    The service processing unit  210  receives a digital cable service provided from the server  140  at a remote place and provides the digital cable service received from the server  140  through the cable-broadcasting network  130  to a user through the display device  110 . In addition, the service processing unit  210  receives a message relating to the digital cable service from the server  140  while the multi-function device  120  reproduces content stored in an information storage medium. Such a message needs to be provided to a user in relation to use of the digital cable service and the priority order of the message is determined according to the degree of urgency of the message. 
         [0039]    The message provided to a user relates to use of the digital cable service and may be an emergency message according to EAS, or a message informing of the upgrading of software relating to the digital cable service or the upgrading of firmware of a cable card by the multi-function device  120 . 
         [0040]    In addition, the message provided to a user may be a message informing a user whether to record the digital cable broadcasting during reproducing by the Blue-ray disc. When a user reserves recording of the digital cable broadcasting, the user is informed of the start and end of recording so that the user identifies the operating state of the multi-function device  120 . The messages provided to a user are described as above. However, the present exemplary invention is not limited thereto and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that all messages provided to a user in relation to use of the digital cable service may apply. 
         [0041]    The operating mode determination unit  220  determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  from among a Blue-ray player mode and a digital cable set-top box mode. 
         [0042]    For example, when a Blue-ray disc is inserted into the multi-function device  120  while the multi-function device  120  receives the digital cable service and operates in the digital cable set-top box mode, the operating mode determination unit  220  changes an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to the Blue-ray player mode. 
         [0043]    According to the present exemplary embodiment, the operating mode determination unit  220  may determine an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  based on the message received from the server  140  while the multi-function device  120  reproduces content stored in a Blue-ray disc. Whether to change an operating mode of the multi-function device  120 , which is already operating in the Blue-ray player mode, to the digital cable set-top box mode is determined based on the priority order of the message received from the server  140 . Determination of an operating mode includes determination on whether to continuously reproduce content stored in a Blue-ray disc and determination on whether to display the message on a screen. 
         [0044]    When the message provided to a user has a high priority order, the operating mode determination unit  220  pauses or stops reproducing a Blue-ray disc and determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  so as to display the message fully on a screen. In this case, the operating mode of the multi-function device  120  is changed from the Blue-ray player mode to the digital cable set-top box mode according to the determination of the operating mode determination unit  220 . 
         [0045]    In addition, the operating mode determination unit  220  may determine an operating mode to continuously maintain the Blue-ray player mode in consideration of the priority order of the message provided to a user and to display the message on a part of a screen. 
         [0046]    When the message provided to a user has a low priority order, the operating mode determination unit  220  may determine an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to continuously maintain the Blue-ray player mode and to display the message after completely reproducing content stored in a Blue-ray disc. 
         [0047]    The content reproducing unit  230  performs at least one of reproducing content stored in a Blue-ray disc and displaying the message provided to a user according to the determination of the operating mode determination unit  220 , as will be described more fully with reference to  FIGS. 3A through 3D . 
         [0048]      FIGS. 3A through 3D  illustrate a method of displaying a message, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0049]    When the operating mode determination unit  220  determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to display a message fully on a screen, the content reproducing unit  230  pauses or stops reproducing content and the message is displayed fully on the screen as illustrated in  FIG. 3A . The message is only displayed fully on the screen or the message and a digital cable channel relating to the message are displayed fully on the screen. 
         [0050]    For example, when an emergency such as an accident or a natural disaster occurs according to EAS, the reproducing of a Blue-ray disc is paused or stopped and an emergency message  310  and a digital cable channel  312  relating to the emergency message  310  are displayed fully on the screen. 
         [0051]    When the operating mode determination unit  220  determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to continuously maintain the Blue-ray player mode and to display the message on a part of a screen, the content reproducing unit  230  simultaneously reproduces the content stored in a Blue-ray disc and displays the message received from the server  140 . In this case, the message is displayed on a screen part  322 . For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 3B , the message is displayed on the screen part  322  and the content reproduced by the Blue-ray disc is displayed on a remaining screen part  320 . In addition, the content reproducing unit  230  may display the message as Picture-in-Picture (PiP). As illustrated in  FIG. 3C , the message and the channel relating to the message are displayed on screen parts  332  and  334  and the content reproduced by the Blue-ray disc is displayed on a remaining screen part  330 . 
         [0052]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the content reproducing unit  230  may not directly display the received message and instead briefly display whether to receive the message from the server  140  to a user. In other words, as illustrated in  FIG. 3D , icons informing whether to receive the message or the priority order of the received message may be briefly displayed to a user on a part of a screen. The icons may be designed to be different to each other according to the details of the messages in order for a user to recognize the details of the messages. 
         [0053]    When the operating mode determination unit  220  determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to display the message after completely reproducing the content stored in a Blue-ray disc, the content reproducing unit  230  continuously reproduces the content stored in a Blue-ray disc fully on a screen and the message is displayed fully on the screen after completely reproducing the content stored in a Blue-ray disc. 
         [0054]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a method of reproducing content, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0055]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the multi-function device  120  reproduces the content stored in an information storage medium, in operation  410 . According to the present exemplary embodiment, the multi-function device  120 , which provides functions of a Blue-ray disc player and a digital cable set-top box, reproduces the content stored in a Blue-ray disc. 
         [0056]    In operation  420 , the multi-function device  120  receives a message relating to a service from the server  140  at a remote place while reproducing the Blue-ray disc. As described above, the server  140  may provide a digital cable service and the message may be provided to a user in relation to the digital cable service. 
         [0057]    The message provided to a user may be an emergency message according to EAS, or a message informing of the upgrading of software relating to the digital cable service or the upgrading of firmware of a cable card by the multi-function device  120 . Such messages relate to information forcefully provided to users who uses the digital cable service. 
         [0058]    In operation  430 , the multi-function device  120  determines whether to continuously reproduce the content stored in an information storage medium and whether to display the message based on the priority order of the message received in operation  420 . 
         [0059]    If the message provided to a user has a high priority order, the multi-function device  120  pauses or stops reproducing the Blue-ray disc and determines to display the message fully on a screen. 
         [0060]    In addition, the multi-function device  120  may determine to continuously maintain the Blue-ray player mode in consideration of the priority order of the message provided to a user, to allocate a part of a screen to display the message, or to display the message after completely reproducing the content stored in the Blue-ray disc. 
         [0061]    In operation  440 , the multi-function device  120  performs at least one of reproducing the content stored in an information storage medium and displaying the message provided to a user according to the determination in operation  430 . 
         [0062]    The message and/or the digital cable channel relating to the message may be displayed fully on a screen, or the content may be continuously reproduced and the message may not be displayed. In addition, the message may be displayed on a part of a screen. In this case, icons relating to the message or information on the priority order may be briefly displayed. 
         [0063]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating the multi-function device  120 , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0064]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , the multi-function device  120  is booted and determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120 , in operations  510  and  520 . According to the present exemplary embodiment, since the multi-function device  120  provides the functions of a Blue-ray disc player and a digital cable set-top box, the multi-function device  120  determines an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  from among two operating modes, in operation  520 . After the multi-function device  120  is booted, various methods may be used to determine the operating mode of the multi-function device  120 . 
         [0065]    For example, when a Blue-ray disc is inserted into the multi-function device  120 , an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  may be determined as that the multi-function device  120  is operating as a Blue-ray disc player. Also, an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  may be determined as that the multi-function device  120  is operating in a default mode set by a user. 
         [0066]    A case where the operating mode is a Blue-ray disc player will be described. 
         [0067]    In operation  530 , the multi-function device  120  operates as a Blue-ray disc player according to the determination in operation  520 . 
         [0068]    In operation  532 , the multi-function device  120  determines whether to change an operating mode of the multi-function device  120 . The message may be provided to a user in relation to the digital cable service. 
         [0069]    If a user input directing change of a mode exists or the priority order of the message is high, and thus, the message needs to be displayed on a screen prior to reproducing of a Blue-ray disc, operation  540  is performed to change an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  to the digital cable set-top box mode and the message and/or the digital cable channel relating to the message are displayed fully on a screen. 
         [0070]    If the priority order of the message is low so as to delay displaying of the message, an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  is not changed and the content stored in a Blue-ray disc is continuously reproduced, in operation  550 . If reproducing of the content is completed in operation  552 , whether there is a message to be displayed on a screen is determined in operation  554 . If there is a message to be displayed on a screen, operation  540  is performed and the message and/or the digital cable channel relating to the message are displayed on a screen. 
         [0071]    If the message does not need to be displayed fully on a screen, an operating mode is not changed in operations  560  and  562  and the message and/or the digital cable channel relating to the message are displayed on a part of a screen while reproducing the content stored in a Blue-ray disc. The displaying of the message and/or the digital cable channel relating to the message on a part of a screen is described above with reference to  FIGS. 3B through 3D . 
         [0072]    If the operating mode of the multi-function device  120  is a digital cable set-top box mode, the multi-function device  120  is operated in the digital cable set-top box mode, in operation  540 . The multi-function device  120  determines whether to change an operating mode while being operated. External input such as a user input directing change of an operating mode or insertion of a Blue-ray disc may be a condition for changing an operating mode. If an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  is changed to the Blue-ray disc player mode, operation  530  and its following operations are performed. 
         [0073]    Otherwise, if an operating mode of the multi-function device  120  is not changed, the multi-function device  120  is operated in the digital cable set-top box mode until the service is completed in operation  546 . Thus, the multi-function device  120  receives the digital cable service and provides the received digital cable service to a user through the display device  110 . 
         [0074]    According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a multi-function device including a function of reproducing content stored in an information storage medium and a function of receiving a service from a remote server may reproduce the content and display an emergency message relating to the service based on the urgency of the message. Accordingly, the intention of a service provider, who forcefully provides the message to a user, is accomplished and the content is reproduced so that use of the multi-function device is maximized. 
         [0075]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can also be embodied as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. 
         [0076]    For example, an apparatus for reproducing content according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a bus coupled to units included in the apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 2  and at least one processor combined with the bus. In addition, a memory coupled to the at least one processor may be included, the at least one processor being combined with the bus for storing commands, receive messages, or generate messages and for performing the commands. 
         [0077]    The computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. 
         [0078]    While exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.