Abstract:
Disclosed is a digital TV receiver performing a channel selection using stored channel information and a method for selecting a channel. With respect to a broadcasting signal which is not being currently viewed, the receiver activated at a predetermined period of time to receive that broadcasting signal. The receiver receives and stores channel information for that signal. A channel selection is performed by displaying the stored channel information or an effective channel according to the stored channel information, at the time of switching of a reception mode. Since the channel selection is performed using the stored channel information, the invention can save a time for selecting a channel and provide convenience of use.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a digital TV receiver capable of receiving an analog broadcasting signal and a digital broadcasting signal. More particularly, the invention relates to a digital TV receiver which stores channel information with respect to a broadcasting signal which is not currently being viewed, and uses the stored channel information to select a broadcasting channel when a broadcasting signal reception mode is changed, and a method performing the same. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A general digital TV receiver having at least two reception modes is capable of receiving an analog broadcasting signal and a digital broadcasting signal. It does not store channel information for a digital broadcasting signal which is currently not being viewed a reception mode where an analog broadcasting signal is selected and viewed, and vice versa. Thus, when a user viewing a program in a certain mode, alters the reception mode in order to view a program of another broadcasting signal, it takes much time to select a channel according to a channel-up/channel-down operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a digital TV receiver which stores channel information with respect to a broadcasting signal which is not being currently viewed and immediately performs a channel selection using the stored channel information when a broadcasting signal reception mode is altered, and a method therefor. 
     To accomplish the above object of the present invention, there is provided a digital TV receiver capable of receiving a digital broadcasting signal and an analog broadcasting signal, the digital TV receiver comprising: 
     a first input portion for receiving a digital broadcasting signal when a current mode is a digital broadcasting signal reception mode, and receiving the digital broadcasting signal at a predetermined period of time when the current mode is not the digital broadcasting signal reception mode; second input portion for receiving an analog broadcasting signal when the current mode is the analog broadcasting signal reception mode, and receiving the analog broadcasting signal at the predetermined period of time when the current mode is not the analog broadcasting signal reception mode; a switching portion for receiving and outputting a first broadcasting signal from one input portion corresponding to the current mode where one of the digital broadcasting signal and the analog broadcasting signal is received, and receiving and outputting, at the predetermined period of time, a second broadcasting signal from another input portion which is not the broadcasting signal corresponding the current mode; a first signal processor for signal-processing the digital broadcasting signal received from the switching portion to output first channel information; a second signal processor for signal-processing the analog broadcasting signal received from the switching portion to output second channel information; and a controller for receiving and storing channel information for a broadcasting signal which is not received from one of the first signal processor and the second signal processor, at a predetermined period of time, and performing a channel selection based on the stored channel information, when the current mode is switched. 
     There is also provided a method for performing a channel selection using channel information in a digital TV receiver capable of receiving a digital broadcasting signal and an analog broadcasting signal, the channel selection method comprising the steps of: 
     (a) discriminating a reception mode with respect to a broadcasting signal which is currently being viewed; 
     (b) receiving and storing at a predetermined period of time channel information on a broadcasting signal which is not being currently viewed, in response to a discrimination result of the step (a); and (c) performing a channel selection using the channel information stored for a broadcasting signal which is not currently being viewed at the time of switching of a reception mode from the broadcasting signal reception mode which is being currently viewed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above object and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital TV receiver according to the present invention; and 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart view for explaining the operation of a digital TV receiver according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a digital TV receiver includes a controller  10  which controls the entire operations of the digital TV receiver, stores channel information with respect to broadcasting signals which are not currently viewed by activating a receiving portion (“A” or “B” shown in FIG. 1) of a broadcasting signal which is not currently viewed, at a predetermined period of time. The controller also performs a channel selection according to the stored channel information when a reception mode switching signal is input to alter a broadcasting signal reception mode which is being currently viewed. The digital TV receiver also includes input portions  11  and  12  for receiving a digital broadcasting signal and an analog broadcasting signal via each antenna, respectively. output ends of the input portions  11  and  12  are connected to a switching portion  13 , which receives and outputs an output signal of an input portion corresponding to a broadcasting signal intended to be viewed, and simultaneously, receives and outputs at a predetermined period of time an output signal of an input portion corresponding to a broadcasting signal which is not currently viewed. Portion “A” includes an intermediate frequency (IF) processor  14  for amplifying an IF signal obtained from a digital broadcasting signal and outputting the amplified result and a channel decoder  16  for error-detecting and error-correcting an input signal and outputting an error corrected signal. Following in succession area transport stream (TS) decoder  17  for separating a video signal from an input signal, outputting the video signal, and outputting channel information to the controller  10 , and a video signal processor  18  for signal-processing the separated video signal and outputting the signal processed result. The IF processor,channel decoder, TS decoder and video signal processor are connected, in sequence, to the output end of the switching portion  13 . Also connected in sequence to the output end of the switching portion  13  are an IF processor  15  for amplifying the IF signal obtained from the analog broadcasting signal and outputting the amplified result, and outputting the channel information to the controller  10  and a video signal processor  19  for adjusting levels such as color, brightness and tone with respect to the input signal, analog-to-digital. (A/D) converting the adjusted result and outputting the A/D converted result. A format converter  20  for format-converting an input video signal into a preset display type is connected in common to the output ends of the video signal processors  18  and  19 . An output end of the format converter  20  is connected to a deflection processor  21 , which separates horizontal and vertical sync signals from the input video signal, outputs the separated horizontal and vertical sync signals to a cathode ray tube (CRT), and generates a sawtooth wave current flowing through a deflection coil of the CRT and outputs the generated sawtooth wave current to the CRT. 
     The operation of the digital TV receiver having the above configuration will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart view for explaining the operation of a digital TV receiver according to the present invention. 
     First, the controller  10  discriminates a broadcasting signal reception mode with respect to a channel which is being currently viewed by a user (step  201 ). As a result of a discrimination of the step  201 , when a broadcasting signal reception mode of a channel which is being currently viewed is an analog broadcasting signal reception mode, the controller  10  activates a receiving portion “A” at a predetermined period of time in order to receive a digital broadcasting signal (step  202 ). At this time, the switching portion  13  outputs the input signal supplied from the input portion  12  to the IF processor  15 , and simultaneously outputs the input signal supplied from the input portion  11  to the IF processor  14 . The controller  10  receives, from the TS decoder  17 , electronic program guide (EPG) data of a digital broadcasting signal output, that is, channel information such as a broadcasting time, a program title and a channel number contained in the received digital broadcasting signal, and stores the received channel information in an internal memory (not shown) (step  203 ). 
     After performing the step  203 , when a user alters a broadcasting signal reception mode via a key input portion (not shown), that is, when a current reception mode is switched from an analog broadcasting signal reception mode which is being currently viewed to a digital broadcasting signal reception mode, the controller  10  receives a switching signal of the reception mode (step  204 ). The controller  10  processes channel information in such a manner that the channel information for the digital broadcasting signal stored in the memory can be displayed on the CRT (step  205 ). Here, the controller  10  stops the operations of the receiving portion “B” for a analog broadcasting signal reception mode and the video signal processor  19 , so that a program of a channel of the analog broadcasting signal which is being viewed is not displayed. When the user selects a channel for a program desired to be viewed from the displayed channel information, the controller  10  controls a receiving portion “A” for a digital broadcasting signal reception mode and the video signal processor  18 , so that a program of the selected channel can be displayed on the CRT (step  206 ). As described above, the stored channel information is displayed on the CRT at the time of switching the reception mode, and a user can select a channel immediately using the displayed channel information. Thus, the time necessitated for the channel selection can be reduced. 
     If the result of the discrimination of the step  201  is different from the described above and the broadcasting signal reception mode of a channel which is being currently viewed is a digital broadcasting signal reception mode, the controller  10  activates the receiving portion “B” at a predetermined period of time in order to receive an analog broadcasting signal in FIG. 1 (step  207 ). At this time, the switching portion  13  outputs the input signal supplied from the input portion  11  to the IF processor  14 , and simultaneously outputs the input signal supplied from the input portion  12  to the IF processor  15 . The controller  10  receives effective channel data with respect to an analog broadcasting signal received from the IF processor  15 , that is, channel information of the effective channel data in which broadcasting signals exist via an auto fine tuning (AFT) of a received analog broadcasting signal, and stores the received channel information in an internal memory (step  208 ). 
     After performing the step  208 , if the user changes a broadcasting signal reception mode through a key input portion (not shown) and performs a channel-up/channel-down operation after performing the step  208 , the controller  10  receives a switching signal for the reception mode and a channel-up/channel-down signal (step  209 ). The controller  10  uses the channel information stored in the memory, so that only programs corresponding to the effective channels can be displayed according to the input channel-up/channel-down signal (step  210 ). As described above, since the program of the effective channel is displayed using the channel information for the stored effective channel with respect to the user&#39;s channel-up/channel-down operation at the time of switching of the reception mode, the user can select a channel to be viewed immediately. 
     While only a certain embodiment of the invention has been specifically described herein, it will apparent that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.