Television – Basic receiver with additional function
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-25
2002-07-23
Hsia, Sherrie (Department: 2614)
Television
Basic receiver with additional function
C348S024000, C348S563000, C348S564000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06424380
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus, and in particular to a receiving apparatus for receiving and displaying data such as image data which has been subjected to digital compression.
(2) Related Art
In recent years, digital broadcasts which transmit video and audio data via transmission means such as satellites and CATVs (Community Antenna Televisions) have been performed.
Research into still image information providing services, where a plurality of inter-related still images are transmitted using a digital broadcast and users performs interactive operations to view their desired still images out of the plurality of still images, has also been performed.
The following is a description of the operation for using such a still image information providing service, with reference to FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
shows an operation image for selecting a still image.
When the “SERVICE MENU” still image
11
is displayed and a user selects the “4, WEATHER FORECAST” item, the “WEATHER FORECAST” still image
12
is displayed.
The following is a description of a conventional technique for providing this still image information providing service, with reference to
FIGS. 1-3
.
FIG. 2
shows a representation of still image data transmitted from a digital broadcast transmitting apparatus.
The digital broadcast transmitting apparatus repeatedly transmits compressed data of a plurality of still images.
The drawing shows a state where the first still image is the “SERVICE MENU” still image
11
and the seventh still image is the “WEATHER FORECAST” still image
12
, among the data
20
of 150 still images which is transmitted repeatedly.
FIG. 3
is a block diagram showing the structure of the conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
.
The conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
receives data transmitted from a digital broadcast transmitting apparatus and displays still images according to operations made by the user. The conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
includes the tuner & demodulator
102
, the transport decoder
103
, the local memory
104
, the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) decoder
105
, the local memory
106
, the CPU
109
for controlling each unit of the apparatus according to an operation made by the user, and the main memory
110
.
The tuner & demodulator
102
receives data
101
transmitted from the digital broadcast transmitting apparatus according to a station selecting operation, such as a selecting operation of a satellite, made by the user, demodulates the received data
101
, and inputs the demodulated data into the transport decoder
103
.
The transport decoder
103
separates and extracts a transport stream indicated by the CPU
109
from the data inputted from the tuner & demodulator
102
.
Note that the transmitted data
101
is transport streams which are obtained by subjecting a plurality of coded streams to a time-division multiplexing using packets of relatively short fixed length.
There are several stream types of the transport streams, such as “image”, “audio”, and “data”.
When the stream type is “image” or “audio”, the transport decoder
103
inputs picture or audio data of this transport stream into the MPEG decoder
105
, and the MPEG decoder
105
expands the picture or audio data and display the expanded picture or audio data. It should be noted here that in this specification, pictures include still images and video images.
When the stream type is “data”, the transport decoder
103
stores the data of the “data” transport stream in the local memory
104
attached to the transport decoder
103
. The data stored in the local memory
104
can be accessed by the CPU
109
.
The conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
expands and displays still image data transmitted from the digital broadcast transmitting apparatus as the “image” stream type using the MPEG decoder
105
. Not all still images that have been transmitted are displayed, with only one out of the transmitted still image being displayed according to a selecting operation made by the user. More specifically, the CPU
109
controls the MPEG decoder
105
according to the selecting operation made by the user so as to freeze the display state when a selected still image is displayed. When the CPU
109
does not perform a specific control, a plurality of pieces of still image data which have been transmitted repeatedly are inputted into the MPEG decoder
105
and the MPEG decoder
105
displays all still images repeatedly like video images.
The conventional digital broadcast transmitting apparatus transmits still images as the “image” stream type and data concerning relations among still images as the “data” stream type to allow the digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
to perform the above process.
The data concerning relations among still images is information indicating relations among still images using identifiers assigned to each still image. This data indicates, for instance, that the “SERVICE MENU” still image
11
and the “WEATHER FORECAST” still image
12
in
FIG. 1
are related to each other. The data concerning relations among still images is hereinafter called still image relation data.
In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
, the transport decoder
103
stores the still image relation data transmitted from the digital broadcast transmitting apparatus in the local memory
104
. The CPU
109
accesses the local memory
104
and stores the still image relation data in the main memory
110
.
The transport decoder
103
inputs compressed still image data transmitted from the digital broadcast transmitting apparatus into the MPEG decoder
105
via the compressed data stream input port
107
.
The MPEG decoder
105
includes the serial-parallel conversion circuit
111
for converting a data signal inputted from the transport decoder
103
into an 8-bit parallel signal, the AV decoder
113
for expanding picture and audio data stored in the local memory
106
and storing the expanded data in the local memory
106
, and the display circuit
114
for displaying the expanded data stored in the local memory
106
.
Therefore, compressed still image data inputted into the MPEG decoder
105
is stored in the local memory
106
, is expanded by the AV decoder
113
, is stored back into the local memory
106
, and is displayed by the display circuit
114
. It should be noted here that the display by the MPEG decoder
105
means the output of signals for TV output. On receiving an operation made by the user, the CPU
109
refers to the still image relation data stored in the main memory
110
, obtains the identifier of the still image selected by the user, and instructs the MPEG decoder
105
to display the still image of the identifier and to freeze the display screen when the still image is displayed.
When the still image
11
in
FIG. 1
is displayed and the user selects the “4. WEATHER FORECAST” item, for instance, the CPU
109
obtains the identifier of the still image corresponding to the “4. WEATHER FORECAST” item by referring to the main memory
110
, informs the MPEG decoder
105
of the obtained identifier, and instructs the MPEG decoder
105
to display the still image
12
and to freeze the display screen at the state where the still image
12
is displayed.
On receiving this instruction from the CPU
109
, the MPEG decoder
105
checks the compressed still image data that is transmitted thereafter and freezes the display state when the still image
12
is displayed.
In this manner, the conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus
100
allows the user to view necessary still images by performing interactive operations.
However, there is a problem that the conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus takes a long time to display still images selected by the user.
When data of 150 still images is repeatedly transmitted from the digital broadcast transmitting apparatus, for instance, there is a time lag of up to the time
Hsia Sherrie
Price and Gess
LandOfFree
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