KR100896277B1 - How to restrict viewing by TV program items - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for restricting viewing by using a program name in a digital television (EPG) having an EPG function. Particularly, if a program item desired to be restricted is registered, the step of registering a program item on a rejection list and when channel switching is selected, Checking whether a program item of a channel to be switched is registered in the blacklist, skipping the corresponding channel if registered in the blacklist, and switching to the corresponding channel if not registered in the blacklist In addition to providing convenient functions for channel navigation, including the step of doing so, it can be used as a child lock that restricts children's watching TV.

Show name, opt-out, list

Description

Method for seeing and hearing limit by program item of TV {Method for seeing and hearing limit using program name of TV}

1 is a block diagram of a digital TV having a general EPG function

2 is a flow chart showing an example of registering the name of the program of rejection of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a flow chart of the present invention during the channel switching operation with the up / down keys of the remote control or panel

4 is a flow chart of the invention operated when displaying a program in an EPG.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

101: tuner 102: demodulator

103: demultiplexer 104: video decoder

105: audio decoder 106: memory

107: OSD processing unit 100: CPU

The present invention relates to a digital television (TV) having an EPG function, and more particularly, to a method of restricting viewing by using a program name.                         

In general, digital TVs have been standardized by preparing broadcast methods and standards in the United States, Europe, and Japan. In Korea and the United States, the transmission format adopts the residual sideband (VSB) method proposed by Zenith in the United States, the compression format adopts MPEG (MPEG) for video compression, and Dolby AC-3 for audio compression. The display format is defined to be compatible with existing display methods.

In such a digital TV, program guide information (or electronic program guide (EPG)) is information that allows a viewer to be more conveniently used to watch TV, and the broadcasting station provides the information. Accordingly, the viewer can obtain information about the current broadcast pro and the future broadcast pro directly on the screen without a newspaper or other guide medium.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general digital TV for receiving and displaying the above-described program guide information. The tuner 101 tunes only a desired channel frequency among the received broadcast signals and outputs it to the demodulator 102. When the input signal is a residual sideband (VSB) modulated signal, the demodulator 102 performs VSB demodulation and outputs the demodulated signal to the demultiplexer 103.

In this case, since the signal input to the demultiplexer 103 is a video signal, an audio signal, and program guide information are multiplexed in the form of a transport packet, the demultiplexer 103 is demultiplexed by the video signal and the audio signal. After the program guide information is separated, the separated video signal and the audio signal are output to the video decoder 104 and the audio decoder 105, respectively, and the program guide information is stored in the DRAM 106 which is a memory. Here, the program guide information is separated again from the Program System Information Protocol (PSIP) signal.

The video decoder 104 decodes the compressed video signal using the MPEG-2 algorithm, and the audio decoder 105 decodes the compressed audio signal using the MPEG-2 algorithm or the AC-3 algorithm.

The on screen display (OSD) processor 107 processes the program guide information stored in the DRAM 106 under the control of the CPU 100 and outputs the OSD for display.

Therefore, when the viewer selects the display of program guide information while watching TV, the broadcast program information of all channels is displayed on the screen.

In this case, the viewer may know program information of another channel instead of the channel currently being viewed using the displayed program guide information.

However, since the digital TV provides multiple channels, it is inconvenient and time-consuming to find a desired program among program information of many channels.

In order to solve this problem, there is a conventional channel selection function or channel lock. However, since the entire channel is selected or rejected regardless of a program being broadcast, it may interfere with the selection of a program required by the viewer.                         

In addition, with the introduction of multi-channel capable media such as cable TV (CATV) and satellite broadcasting, various programs have been developed, and many adult programs and non-educational programs are broadcast to satisfy the needs of various viewers. It is a trend.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for restricting viewing by a program name of a TV which automatically deletes from the EPG list with a corresponding channel lock during a time when a program of a name registered by the user is broadcast.

In order to achieve the above object, a method of restricting viewing by a program name of a TV according to the present invention includes registering a program that is not desired to watch, and when a program of a pre-registered name is broadcasted, the channel lock is automatically performed during the corresponding time. By removing them from the EPG list, they not only provide convenient functions for channel navigation, but also serve as child locks that restrict children from watching television.

The method of restricting viewing by the program name of the TV according to the present invention which embodies the above is to register the program name to be restricted in the parental control list, and if the channel switching is selected, the program name of the next channel is registered in the parental control list. Checking whether the program is registered on the blacklist, skipping the corresponding channel if the program name is registered on the blacklist, and checking whether the program name of the next channel is registered on the blacklist, and registering on the blacklist at the step If the program name is not, it may include switching to the corresponding channel.

The present invention may further include a step of not displaying a program name registered in the viewing rejection list when displaying program guide information on a screen.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating the configuration and operation of the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, By the technical spirit of the present invention described above and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

2 is a flow chart showing an example of registering the name of the audience rejection program of the present invention. That is, if the user selects the event name (broadcasting information used as a program name) of the program of the channel currently being viewed or the EPG menu for rejection (step 201), it is determined whether the selected program name is a registered program name. Confirm (step 202).

Here, the program name registered for rejection of viewing may be the entire program name, or may be a part of one program name, that is, a specific keyword. For example, if the broadcast program name is 'Love and War', both the 'Love and War' may be selected as the rejection program name, or 'War' may be selected.

If it is determined in step 202 that the program name has already been registered in the view-density list, the process returns to the beginning, and if it is determined that the program name is not already registered, it is registered in the view-density list in the nonvolatile memory (step 203).

3 is a flow chart of the present invention when a channel switching operation is performed by an up / down key of a remote controller or a panel. When a channel up or down key is input (step 301), the current event name of the next sequence channel is searched in the stored viewing denial list. (Step 302). If there is a matching program (step 303), skip to check the next channel. Here, the viewing may be denied only when the program name of the next channel and the program name registered in the viewing deny list are exactly matched, or the viewing may be denied even when only some words match. For example, if the program of the next channel is 'war and peace' and the program name 'war' is registered in the viewing refusal list, the 'war and peace' becomes refusal of viewing.

On the other hand, if the program name of the next sequence channel is not found in the viewing rejection list, the switching operation is performed to the channel (step 304).

4 is a flowchart of the present invention operated when displaying a program in the EPG. If the user selects a channel and time to be displayed in the EPG through the EPG menu (step 401), the event name corresponding to the channel and time to be displayed in the EPG is searched for in the viewing rejection list (step 402). If there is an event name registered in the parental rejection list, the event name is excluded from the EPG list. That is, do not display on the TV screen. Then proceed to step 401 to select another channel and time.

On the other hand, if the event name is not registered in the viewing denial list is displayed on the TV screen in the OSD form (step 404), and registered in the program list of the EPG. At this time, if the EPG program list is not completed, the process returns to the above-described step 401, and if the completion is completed, the program ends (step 405).

As described above, the present invention always registers a specific program name in the parental control list, and then selects the channel or the EPG menu regardless of the channel or time if the program is registered in the parental control list compared to the parental control list when switching channels or selecting EPG display. Prohibit the display.

That is, the conventional channel lock function selects the entire channel, but the present invention is a function of temporarily locking the channel only during the broadcast of a specific program. In addition, even if the same program is broadcasted at different times or different channels, the same view rejection function is applied.

As described above, according to the method of restricting viewing by the program name of a TV according to the present invention, when the program name is registered in the viewer's viewing rejection list when changing the channel or switching to the channel selected in the EPG menu, the channel is displayed. By not skipping or displaying in the EPG menu, it can be used for two purposes depending on the needs of the viewer.

The first is to pre-specify a list of programs you are not interested in so that you can select the channels you want faster in a multi-channel broadcast environment. That is, when the channel is changed by the channel up / down key of the remote controller, the channel that does not want broadcast (ie, the pre-registered program) at the present time is skipped and switched. When the EPG (electronic program guide) menu is operated, it is omitted from the program to be displayed on the screen that does not match the list, so that the channel desired by the user can be selected more quickly.

The second is the parental control function of certain programs for children. Designating a list of prohibited programs to prevent viewing of non-educational programs or to limit excessive television viewing prevents the selection of problematic programs and prevents them from having to watch them by not displaying them in the EPG. At this time, since the program names are compared, the same program is applied even if the corresponding program is broadcasted in another channel or any time zone. The broadcaster is more flexible and capable of operating than a single, traditional method of rating viewer ratings.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (4)

In the viewing restriction method of a digital television with a program guide information function, Registering a program item for which parental control is desired in the parental control list; If channel switching is selected, checking whether a program item of a channel to be switched is registered in the viewing rejection list; If the program item is registered in the parental control list, skipping the corresponding channel and checking whether a program item of the next channel is registered in the parental control list; And And switching to a corresponding channel if the program item is not registered in the parental control list. The method of claim 1, And the program item registered in the parental control list is the full name of the program. The method of claim 1, And the program item registered in the parental control list is part of a full name of the program. The method of claim 1, And not displaying the program items registered in the parental control list when displaying the program guide information on the screen.

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