Abstract:
The instant disclosure relates to a television signal receiver having signal switching capability between the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and the Digital Visual Interface (DVI) signal. In particular, a television signal receiver using a mechanical signal selection unit to switch between the HDMI and DVI connectors, for receiving matching input digital signal, is disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The instant disclosure relates to a television signal receiver; in particular, to a television signal receiver having a plurality of digital signal connectors and a mechanical signal selection unit. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In recent years, digital signal transmission connectors are mainly categorized into two groups, namely, the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and the Digital Visual Interface (DVI). The conventional TV signal receiver only has either an HDMI or DVI digital signal connector. Therefore, to connect a DVI source signal with a TV signal receiver having only an HDMI connector, an HDMI-DVI adapter is needed. Likewise, to connect an HDMI source signal with a TV signal receiver having only a DVI connector, a DVI-HDMI adapter is needed. In other words, to switch between the HDMI signal and the DVI source signal, the signal adapter must be switched out based on the data structure of the signals. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The instant disclosure provides a TV signal receiver, which comprises a signal processing unit, an HDMI connector, a DVI connector, and a mechanical signal selection unit. The signal processing unit receives and processes the HDMI or DVI signal from an electronic device. The HDMI connector receives the HDMI signal transmitted from the signal processing unit. Likewise, the DVI connector receives the DVI signal transmitted from the signal processing unit. The HDMI signal includes a first video data and a first audio data, while the DVI signal includes a second video data. 
         [0006]    The mechanical signal selection unit is coupled to the signal processing unit on one end, and to the HDMI connector and the DVI connector on the other end. The mechanical signal selection unit selectively transmits the HDMI signal to the HDMI connector, or the DVI signal to the DVI connector. The mechanical signal selection unit can be a manual switch, wherein the manual switch can be a flip switch, a push-button switch, or a turn knob switch. 
         [0007]    For one embodiment, the signal processing unit can include a signal retrieval module, a graphics processing unit, and a signal output control unit. The signal retrieval module receives the HDMI or DVI signal. When the received signal is HDMI, the signal retrieval module would retrieve the first video data and the first audio data from the HDMI signal. Then, the first video data is exported to the graphics processing unit, and the first audio data is exported to the signal output control unit. Next, to be compatible with the display setting of the TV signal receiver, the first video data is reformatted by the graphics processing unit into a third video data and exported to the signal output control unit. The signal output control unit would export the received third video data and the first audio data accordingly. 
         [0008]    In addition, for the instant embodiment, when the signal retrieval module receives the DVI signal, the signal retrieval module would retrieve the second video data from the DVI signal, and export the second video data to the graphics processing unit. Next, to be compatible with the display setting of the TV signal receiver, the second video data is reformatted by the graphics processing unit into a fourth video data and exported to the signal output control unit. Thereby, the signal output control unit can export the received fourth video data accordingly. 
         [0009]    In order to further appreciate the characteristics and technical contents of the instant disclosure, references are hereunder made to the detailed descriptions and appended drawings in connection with the instant disclosure. However, the appended drawings are merely shown for exemplary purposes, rather than being used to restrict the scope of the instant disclosure. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram for one embodiment of the instant disclosure. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  shows a block diagram of digital signal processing of the signal retrieval module of the instant disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0012]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which shows a block diagram for one embodiment of the instant disclosure. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a TV signal receiver  1  comprises an HDMI connector  1   a , a DVI connector  1   b , a mechanical signal selection unit  12 , and a signal processing unit  19 . The signal processing unit  19  can further include a signal retrieval module  13 , a graphics processing unit  14 , and a signal output control unit  17 . The TV signal receiver  1  receives an input signal S in  transmitted from an electronic device. The input signal S in  can be an HDMI or a DVI signal. 
         [0013]    An HDMI interface  10  is connected to the TV signal receiver  1  through an HDMI cable  101 . A DVI interface  11  is connected to the TV signal receiver  1  through a DVI cable  111 . The HDMI connector  1   a  is used to receive the HDMI signal from the mechanical signal selection unit  12  and transmit to the HDMI interface  10 . The HDMI interface  10  would export the received HDMI signal to an audio output unit  16  and a display unit  15 , therefore allowing the display unit  15  and the audio output unit  16  to export visual graphics and sound respectively. The display unit  15  and the audio output unit  16  can be a television, a computer, a projector, or a DVD player, etc. The DVI connector  1   b  is used to receive the DVI signal from the mechanical signal selection unit  12  and transmit to the DVI interface  11 . The DVI interface  11  would export the received DVI signal to the display unit  15  to show visual graphics. 
         [0014]    The mechanical signal selection unit  12  can be a manual switch, such as a flip switch, a push-button switch, or a turn knob switch. The user can choose to export the HDMI signal to the HDMI connector la, or export the DVI signal to the DVI connector  1   b . The flip type switch can be a dual in-line package (DIP) switch, etc. Based on the HDMI or DVI signal selected by the user, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would transmit the signal to the HDMI connector  1   a  or the DVI connector  1   b.    
         [0015]    For example, if the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is pre-selected for the HDMI signal, and the received signal by the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is indeed an HDMI signal, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would then transmit the HDMI signal to the HDMI connector  1   a . Conversely, if the received signal by the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is a DVI signal instead, which does not match the HDMI selection of the mechanical signal selection unit  12 , the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would not transmit the DVI signal to the HDMI connector  1   a.    
         [0016]    Likewise, if the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is pre-selected for the DVI signal, and the received signal by the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is indeed a DVI signal, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would then transmit the DVI signal to the DVI connector  1   b . Conversely, if the received signal by the mechanical signal selection unit  12  is an HDMI signal instead, which does not match the DVI selection of the mechanical signal selection unit  12 ; the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would not transmit the HDMI signal to the DVI connector  1   b . Simply speaking, based on the pre-selected signal mode, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  can determine whether to transmit the received signal downstream to the HDMI interface  10  or DVI interface  11 . 
         [0017]    Please refer back to  FIG. 1 , where the signal retrieval module  13  of the signal processing unit  19  receives the input signal S in  from the electronic device (such as a computer server). The input signal S in  can be either an HDMI or a DVI signal. When the signal received by the signal retrieval module  13  is an HDMI signal, the signal retrieval module  13  would retrieve the first video data and the first audio data from the HDMI signal, and export the first video data to the graphics processing unit  14  and the first audio data to the signal output control unit  17 . Next, to be compatible with the display setting of the TV signal receiver  1 , the first video data is reformatted by the graphics processing unit  14  into a third video data and exported to the signal output control unit  17 . Then, the signal output control unit  17  would export the received third video data and the first audio data simultaneously to the mechanical signal selection unit  12 . Based on the signal mode selected by the user, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would determine whether to transmit the first video data and the third audio data to the HDMI connector  1   a.    
         [0018]    On the other hand, when the received signal by the signal retrieval module  13  is a DVI signal, the signal retrieval module  13  would retrieve the second video data from the DVI signal, and export the second video data to the graphics processing unit  14 . Next, to be compatible with the display setting of the TV signal receiver  1 , the second video data is reformatted by the graphics processing unit  14  into a fourth video data and exported to the signal output control unit  17 . Then, the signal output control unit  17  would export the received fourth video data to the mechanical signal selection unit  12 . Based on the signal mode selected by the user, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would determine whether to transmit the fourth video data to the DVI connector  1   b.    
         [0019]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which shows a signal processing block diagram of the signal retrieval module  13 . The signal retrieval module  13  comprises an EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) memory device  21 , a HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) memory device  23 , a signal receiving circuit  25 , an audio output circuit  27 , and a video signal output circuit  29 . 
         [0020]    The EDID memory device  21  stores the display resolution data, including the manufacture&#39;s name and serial number, for allowing the HDMI interface  10  or the DVI interface  11  to verify the resolution and pixel information of the display unit  15 . The HDCP memory device  23  stores the copyright protection data, to prevent illegal copying of digital audio and video content, as the content travels across the DVI connector  1   b  or HDMI connector  1   a.    
         [0021]    The signal receiving circuit  25  receives the input signal S in  from the electronic device (such as a computer sever), retrieves the video data, and transmits the retrieved video data to the video signal output circuit  29 , for exporting the video data to the graphics processing unit  14  by the video signal output circuit  29 . Next, the video data is processed by the graphics processing unit  14 , which reformats the video data according to the display setting of the TV signal receiver  1 , and exports the reformatted video data to the signal output control unit  17 . On the other hand, the signal receiving circuit  25  retrieves an audio data from the input signal S in  and transmits the retrieved audio data to the audio output circuit  27 , for exporting the audio data to the signal output control unit  17  by the audio output circuit  27 . Next, as discussed previously, the signal output control unit  17  would export the reformatted video data and audio data simultaneously to the mechanical signal selection unit  12 . Based on the signal setting of the mechanical signal selection unit  12  by the user, the mechanical signal selection unit  12  would determine whether to export the reformatted video data and audio data to the HDMI connector  1   a  or the DVI connector  1   b.    
         [0022]    According to the above described embodiments, the instant disclosure does not require additional signal converting cables. Based on the type of the input signal, the user only needs to set the mechanical signal selection unit, to complete the transmission of the HDMI or DVI signal. Also, by using the mechanical signal selection unit  12  to determine the transmission of HDMI or DVI signal, and using the signal processing unit  19  to reformat the video data, in the instant disclosure the need for complex circuit design is eliminated, in achieving the objective of dual signal transmission capability. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of the TV digital signal receiver  1  can be further reduced. 
         [0023]    The descriptions illustrated supra set forth simply the preferred embodiment of the instant disclosure; however, the characteristics of the instant disclosure are by no means restricted thereto. All changes, alternations, or modifications conveniently considered by those skilled in the art are deemed to be encompassed within the scope of the instant disclosure delineated by the following claims.