Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 1 -
TELEVISION RECEIVING SET
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television receiving
set provided with a multi-window function which allows the
images of a plurality of video signals to be displayed at
the same time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different kinds of television programs have been
broadcasted. Anyone can easily watch these television
programs by a television receiving set at home. Therefore,
there has been conventionally a problem with television
programs which are unsuited to low-age children, such as a
television program having many violent scenes, being offered
to low-age children without any limitation.
To solve this problem, a television program is
broadcasted with so-called rating information being added,
which is used to limit the output at a television receiving
set. The output (offer) of a television program can be
limited at a television receiving set.
This rating information is set according to the
contents of television programs to specify, for example, a
program for children of less than the age of six, a program
for children of the age of seven and over, and a program
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 2 -
unsuited to children of less than 14. It can be used to
limit the output at a television receiving set according to
the age of a viewer and other items.
A broadcasting station adds rating information
specified according to the contents of a television program
to the video signal of the program to broadcast it. Rating
information is added to a video signal at, for example, the
21st horizontal period in a vertical blanking period.
On the other hand, at a television receiving set, when
viewers of television programs at the television receiving
set include, for example, a child of less than 14, an
administrator such as the parents of the child, sets in
advance rating level information serving as a reference used
for not outputting a television program having a rating
information indicating that it is unsuited to children of
less than 14 even if the program is selected.
The television receiving set extracts rating
information added to the video signal of the selected
television program, and compares the rating level
information specified in advance in the television receiving
set with information used for comparison with rating
information, obtained from the extracted rating information.
When it is determined from the comparison result that
the extracted rating information indicates, for example,
that the program is for children of the age of seven and
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 3 -
over, in other words, the program has a rating level lower
than that of the rating level information specified in
advance, the program is determined to be a television
program which is allowed to be viewed at the television
receiving set and the program is output.
Conversely, if the extracted rating information
indicates, for example, that the program is unsuited to
children of less than 14 or children of less than 17, in
other words, the program has a rating level higher than that
of the rating level information specified in advance, the
program is determined to be a television program which is
not allowed to be viewed at the television receiving set and
the program is not output.
This processing is called blocking processing. A
control section formed of a microprocessor performs the
processing in which rating information is extracted, decoded
to obtain'information to be compared with a rating level,
and compared with the rating level.
With the above processing, the user of the television
receiving set controls television programs such that
unsuited television programs are not offered according to
the age of a child or other items, to effectively prevent a
child from receiving an adverse effect of television
programs.
Television receiving sets having a so-called multi-
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 4 -
window function have been recently commercially available.
For example, the entire display screen of a display device
such as a cathode-ray tube (CRT) is set to a parent window,
and a so-called child window is provided at a part of the
parent window. The images of two video signals can be
reproduced at the same time with the parent window and the
child window. Television receiving sets provided with a
multi-window function which is called a picture-in-picture
function are thus available.
Television receiving sets having a multi-window
function are also available which allows the images of a
plurality of video signals to be displayed at the same time
on a plurality of windows made by dividing the display
screen of a display device.
In such a television receiving set having a multi-
window function, what kind of image display control is
performed according to rating information added to each
video signal has not been considered for each of a plurality
of television programs which can be viewed at the same time.
It is examined that display control of a plurality of
television programs which can be displayed at the same time
is performed according to the rating information added to
the video signal selected as the main video signal.
In a television receiving set having the picture-in-
picture function, for example, control of a sub video signal
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 5 -
used for image display on the child window is performed
according to the rating information added to the main video
signal selected for image display on the parent window. In
the same way, in a television receiving set having a multi-
window function which can divide the screen into a plurality
of windows, for example, control of sub video signals used
for image display on divided windows other than the main
window is performed according to the rating information
added to the main video signal selected for image display on
the main divided window.
Therefore, when the rating information added to the
main video signal has a higher rating level than the rating
level information specified in advance, an image is not
displayed on the child window, or on any divided windows
other than the main window. With this operation, positive
control of at least the video signal of the television
program to be displayed on the parent window or on the main
window is performed according to the rating information
added to the video signal.
When the rating information added to the main video
signal has a higher rating level than the rating level
information specified in advance, however, even if the
rating information added to an video signal used for image
display on the child window or added to video signals used
for image display on divided windows other than the main
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 6 -
window has a lower rating level than the rating level
information specified in advance, an image is not displayed
on the child window, or on any divided windows other than
the main window.
When the rating information added to the main video
signal has a lower rating level than the rating level
information specified in advance, even if the rating
information added to a sub video signal used for image
display on the child window or added to sub video signals
used for image display on divided windows other than the
main window has a higher rating level than the rating level
information specified in advance, an image is displayed on
the child window, or on a11 divided windows other than the
main window.
It can be considered that the control section formed of
the microcomputer extracts the rating information added to a
sub video signal, decodes the extracted rating information,
and compares the information obtained by decoding with a
rating level.
If this is performed, however, a too large load is
applied to the control section and a processing delay may
occur. Especially in a television receiving set having a
multi-window function for three windows or more, since
blocking processing is applied to three or more sub video
signals in the control section, it is considered that a case
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
in which- appropriate blocking processing is not applied to
each of the video signals may occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention
to provide a television receiving set which allows, when the
images of a plurality of video signals are displayed at the
same time, output control of the plurality of video signals
to be appropriately performed according to the rating
information added to each video signal.
The foregoing object is achieved in one aspect of the
present invention through the provision of a television
receiving set having a function for combining the images of
a plurality of video signals corresponding to a plurality of
input signals and for displaying on one screen, including:
holding means for holding the restriction information
specified by the user in advance; a first blocking
processing section for performing image-display-output
disabling processing corresponding to a first video signal
among the plurality of video signals; control means for
controlling the execution of image-display-output disabling
processing in the first blocking processing section by
extracting the additional information added to the first
video signal, by detecting information related to a display
rule used for comparison with the restriction information
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
_ g _
held by the holding means, in the extracted information, and
by comparing the detected information related to the display
rule with the restriction information held by the holding
means; a second blocking processing section for performing
image-display-output disabling processing corresponding to a
second video signal other than the first video signal; and
additional-information detecting means for the second video
signal, for extracting the additional information added to
the second video signal and for outputting information
according to the extracted additional information to the
control means, wherein the control means controls the
execution of image-display-output disabling processing in
the second blocking processing section.
The restriction information specified by the user may
be data according to the upper age limit of persons who are
allowed to watch, such as rating level information.
The additional information may be display-rule data
used to restrict display of each of the plurality of images
corresponding to the plurality of input signals. The
display-rule data may be data according the lower age limit
of persons who are allowed to watch the corresponding image,
such as rating information.
The television receiving set may be configured such
that the second video signal corresponds to a plurality of
video signals corresponding to a plurality of input signals,
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 9 -
other than the first video signal, and blocking processing
sections for performing image-display-output disabling
processing corresponding to the plurality of video signals
are provided.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the holding means holds the rating level
information serving as a reference for determining whether
the image of a video signal is allowed to be output in the
television receiving set by comparison with the rating
information added to the video signal.
When a multi-window function such as a picture-in-
picture function is used and the images of two video signals
are displayed at the same time, for example, the control
means extracts the rating information from the first video
signal whose image is to be displayed on the parent window,
detects information related to a rating level used for
comparison with the rating level information in the
extracted rating information, and compares the information
related to a rating level with the rating level information
held by the holding means. According to the comparison
result, the control means controls the first blocking
processing section such that the image of the first video
signal is not displayed when the output of the first video
signal is not allowed in the television receiving set.
The rating information detecting means for the second
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 10 -
video signal extracts the rating information added to the
second video signal from the second video signal whose image
is to be displayed on the child window, and sends
information based on the extracted rating information to the
control means.
According to the information related to the rating
information, sent from the rating information detecting
means for the second video signal and the rating level
information held by the holding means, the control means
controls the second blocking processing section such that
the image of the second video signal is not displayed when
the output of the second video signal is not allowed in the
television receiving set.
With the above configuration, image display output
control is appropriately performed for each of the first
video signal and the second video signal according to the
rating information added to each video signal.
The rating information detecting means for the second
video signal outputs the extracted rating information to the
control means; and the control means controls the execution
of image-display-output disabling processing in the second
blocking processing section by detecting information related
to a rating level used for comparison with the rating level
information held by the holding means in the rating
information sent from the rating information detecting means
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 11 -
for the second video signal, and comparing the detected
information related to a rating level with the rating level
information held by the holding means.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the rating information detecting means
for the second video signal sends the rating information
extracted from the second video signal to the control means.
The control means detects information related to a
rating level used for comparison with the rating level
information in the rating information extracted from the
second video signal, and compares the information related to
a rating level with the rating level information held by the
holding means. According to the comparison result, the
control means controls the second blocking processing
section.
With this operation, since the information related to
the rating information sent from the rating information
detecting means for the second video signal is identical
with the rating information extracted from the second video
signal, the control means appropriately controls the second
blocking processing section by applying the same processing
as that applied to the rating information extracted from the
first video signal to the rating information extracted from
the second video signal. Since the rating information added
to the second video signal is extracted by the rating
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 12 -
information detecting means, the control means does not have
an excessive load.
The rating information detecting means for the second
video signal detects information related to a rating level
used for comparison with the rating level information held
by the holding means in the extracted rating information and
outputs the detected information related to a rating level
to the control means; and the control means controls the
execution of image-display-output disabling processing in
the second blocking processing section by comparing the
information related to a rating level with the rating level
information held by the holding means.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the rating information detecting means
for the second video signal sends the information related to
a rating level which is detected in the rating information
extracted from the second video signal to the control means.
The control means compares the information related to a
rating level sent from the rating information detecting
means for the second video signal with the rating level
information held by the holding means. According to the
comparison result, the control means controls the second
blocking processing section.
With this operation, since the control means does not
need to detect the information related to a rating level in
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 13 -
the information based on the rating information sent from
the rating information detecting means for the second video
signal, the load of the control means does not increase. In
other words, when a mufti-window function is used and the
images of a plurality of video signals are displayed at the
same time, blocking processing is appropriately applied to
each video signal according to each video signal.
The rating information detecting means for the second
video signal detects information related to a rating level
used for comparison with the rating level information held
by the holding means in the extracted rating information,
compares the detected information related to a rating level
with the rating level information held by the holding means,
and outputs the comparison result to the control means; and
the control means controls the execution of image-display-
output disabling processing in the second blocking
processing section according to the comparison result.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the rating level information held by the
holding means is sent to the rating information detecting
means for the second video signal. The rating information
detecting means for the second video signal compares the
information related to a rating level which is detected in
the rating information extracted from the second video
signal with the rating level information sent from the
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 14 -
holding means, and sends the comparison result to the
control means.
The control means controls the second blocking
processing section according to information indicating the
comparison result sent from the rating information detecting
means for the second video signal.
The control means controls the second blocking
processing section with the direct use of the information
based on the rating information sent from the rating
information detecting means for the second video signal. In
addition, the detection of the information related to a
rating level or the comparison of the information related to
a rating level with the rating level information held by the
holding means is not required in the control means.
Therefore, the load applied to the control means for
controlling the second blocking processing section is
suppressed to the minimum level.
Therefore, also in this case, when a multi-window
function is used and the images of a plurality of video
signals are displayed at the same time, blocking processing
is appropriately applied to each video signal according to
each video signal.
A television receiving set according to the present
invention may include display information generating means
for generating a signal used for displaying display
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 15 -
information at the display area of the image of the second
video signal, wherein the control means controls the second
blocking processing section such that the signal generated
by the display information generating means is output
instead of the second video signal when image-display-output
disabling processing is performed for the second video
signal.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the second blocking processing section
outputs the signal generated by the display information
generating means instead of the second video signal when
image-display-output disabling processing is applied to the
second video signal under control of the control means, and
the display information of the signal generated by the
display information generating means is displayed at the
display area of the image of the second video signal.
When the image of the second video signal is not
output because the second video signal is blocked by the
second blocking processing section, the display information
indicating that the second video signal is blocked is
displayed at the display area of the image of the second
video signal. In this case, since the condition in which
the second video signal is blocked is understood at a glance
by the display information, the user does not take it for a
trouble in the television receiving set.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 16 -
Since only the signal for displaying the display
information generated by the display information generating
means is used instead of the second video signal, the
display information indicating that the second video signal
is blocked is displayed at the display area of the image of
the second video signal relatively easily without performing
complicated processing.
The foregoing object is achieved in another aspect of
the present invention through the provision of a television
receiving set having a function for combining the images of
a plurality of video signals corresponding to a plurality of
input signals and for displaying on one screen, including:
holding means for holding at least the restriction
information specified by the user in advance; a first
blocking processing section for performing image-display-
output disabling processing corresponding to a first video
signal among the plurality of video signals; first control
means for controlling the execution of image-display-output
disabling processing in the first blocking processing
section by extracting the additional information added to
the first video signal, by detecting information related to
a display rule used for comparison with the restriction
information held by the holding means, in the extracted
information, and by comparing the detected information
related to the display rule with the restriction information
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 17 -
held by the holding means; a second blocking processing
section for performing image-display-output disabling
processing corresponding to a second video signal other than
the first video signal; and second control means for
controlling the execution of image-display-output disabling
processing in the second blocking processing section by
extracting the additional information added to the second
video signal, by detecting information related to a display
rule used for comparison with the restriction information
held by the holding means, in the extracted information, and
by comparing the detected information related to the display
rule with the restriction information held by the holding
means.
Also in this case, the restriction information
specified by the user may be data according to the upper age
limit of persons who are allowed to watch, such as rating
level information.
The additional information may be display-rule data
used to restrict display of each of the plurality of images
corresponding to the plurality of input signals. The
display-rule data may be data according the lower age limit
of persons who are allowed to watch the corresponding image,
such as rating information.
The television receiving set may be configured such
that the second video signal corresponds to a plurality of
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 18 -
video signals corresponding to a plurality of input signals,
other than the first video signal, and blocking processing
sections for performing image-display-output disabling
processing corresponding to the plurality of video signals
are provided.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the holding means holds the rating level
information serving as a reference for determining whether
the image of a video signal is allowed to be output in the
television receiving set, by comparison with the rating
information added to the video signal.
When a multi-window function such as a picture-in-
picture function is used and the images of two video signals
are displayed at the same time, for example, the control
means extracts rating information from the first video
signal, detects information related to a rating level used
for comparison with the' rating level information in the
extracted rating information, and compares the information
related to a rating level with the rating level information
held by the holding means. According to the comparison
result, the control means controls the first blocking
processing section such that the image of the first video
signal is not displayed when the output of the first video
signal is not allowed in the television receiving set.
On the other hand, in the same way as in a case of the
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 19 -
control means for detecting the rating information in the
first video signal, the second control means extracts rating
information from the second video signal. The second
control means detects information related to a rating level
used for comparison with the rating level information in the
extracted rating information, and compares the information
related to a rating level with the rating level information
held by the holding means. According to the comparison
result, the second control means controls the second
blocking processing section such that the image of the
second video signal is not displayed when the output of the
second video signal is not allowed in the television
receiving set.
Image display output is appropriately controlled for
each of the first video signal and the second video signal
according to the rating information added to each of the
video signals. Since the first blocking processing section
and the second blocking processing section are controlled by
separate control means, the load of controlling both
blocking processing sections is separated.
A television receiving set according to the present
invention may be configured such that display information
generating means for generating a signal used for displaying
display information at the display area of the image of the
second video signal is included, and the second control
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 20 -
means controls the second blocking processing section such
that the signal generated by the display information
generating means is output instead of the second video
signal when image-display-output disabling processing is
performed for the second video signal.
According to the television receiving set of the
present invention, the second blocking processing section
outputs a signal generated by the display information
generating means instead of the second video signal when
image-display-output disabling processing is applied to the
second video signal under control of the second control
means, and the display information of the signal generated
by the display information generating means is displayed at
the display area of the image of the second video signal.
In this case, since the condition in which the second
video signal is blocked is understood at a glance by the
display information, the user does not take it for a trouble
in the television receiving set. When the second blocking
processing section performs image-display-output disabling
processing under control of the second control means, since
only the signal generated by the display information
generating means is used instead of the second video signal,
a load is not applied to the control means, which performs
processing for the first video signal.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 21 -
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a view used for describing a rating
information example.
Fig. 3 is a view of a parent window and a child window
in a case in which a picture-in-picture function is used.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 6 is a view of a parent window and a child window
in the television receiving set shown in Fig. 5, with
display information being displayed on the child window.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Television receiving sets according to embodiments of
the present invention will be described below by referring
to the drawings. The following embodiments will be
described, assuming that the present invention is applied to
television receiving sets each having a picture-in-picture
function and allowing images to be reproduced at the same
time on a parent window and a child window. In the
following embodiments, to simplify a description, a
description of an audio system in each of the television
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 22 -
receiving sets will be omitted.
First embodiment
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. l, the
television receiving set of the present embodiment is
provided with an antenna 1, a distributor 2, tuners 3a and
3b, an external input terminal 4, a switch circuit 5, a
blocking processing section 6, a video processor 7, a video
amplifier 8, a CRT 9, a host microcomputer 10, an operation
key section 11, a rating information processing circuit (in
the figure, described as a V-chip IC) 21, a blocking
processing section 22, a chroma decoder 23, and a picture-
in-picture controller (hereinafter called a PIP controller)
24.
The operation key section 11 includes various operation
keys, such as a power on/off key, a station selection key,
adjustment keys for image quality, the amount of sound, and
sound quality, a picture-in-picture on/off key, a switching
key for a parent window/child window, and an operation key
used for inputting rating level information. The user can
input various directions through the operation key section
11 to the television receiving set of the present embodiment.
The host microcomputer 10 is provided with a CPU l00, a
ROM 101, and a RAM 102 as shown in Fig. 1. According to the
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 23 -
directions which the user inputs through the operation key
section 11, the host microcomputer 10 serves as a control
section for controlling each section of the television
receiving set of the first embodiment.
The host microcomputer 10 receives rating level
information input through the operation key section 11 and
writes it into the RAM 102 serving as holding means. The
rating level information serves as a reference for
determining whether the image display output of, for example,
a television program to be viewed is allowed at the
television receiving set.
In other words, the rating level information is
compared with information related to a rating level detected
in the rating information offered by being added to the
video signal of a television program, as described later.
The rating level information is used, for example, for
directing not to output a television program unsuited to
children of less than 14. It is information having a
plurality of bits used for discriminating between television
programs allowed to be output and television programs not
allowed, in the television receiving set.
In this first embodiment, the RAM 102 of the host
microcomputer 10 is non volatile, which means that even if
the main power is turned off, written rating-level
information is not deleted.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 24 -
As described above, the rating information which is the
basis of the information related to a rating level to be
compared with the rating level information held by the RAM
102 is specified according to the contents of a television
program, and is offered by being added to the 21st
horizontal period in a vertical blanking period of the video
signal of the television program.
In this case, the rating information has two bytes in a
format specified by Electronic Industries Association (EIA),
and is formed of movie-program rating information called an
MPAA rating and rating information for drama programs and
news programs, called a parental guideline.
Among this rating information of two bytes, for example,
the rating level of the MPAA rating is specified with the
lower three bits of the first byte and the rating level of
the parental guideline is specified with the lower three
bits of the second byte.
For the parental guideline, for example, as shown in
Fig. 2, a rating is specified in six levels from TV-Y to TV-
MA with the use of the lower three bits (g2, gl, and g0) of
the second byte.
In this parental guideline, TV-Y indicates a television
program for children of six years of age and under, which is
good for all children. TV-Y7 indicates a television program
created for children of seven years of age and over, which
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 25 -
may includes a very slightly violent scene called fantasy
violence (FV). A mark x is placed for TV-Y7 at the column
of FV in Fig. 2. TV-G is assigned to a television program
which most parents think has no problem for people of a11
ages, which does not include an inappropriate violent scene
or an obscene word.
TV-PG indicates a television program which parents
think is inappropriate for young children, which includes
one or more of a slightly violent scene (V), a slightly
sexual scene (S), a vulgar word (L), and a slightly
suggestive sexual dialog (D), as shown by marks x in Fig. 2.
TV-14 indicates a television program inappropriate for
children of 14 years of age and under, which includes one or
more of a violent scene (V), a sexual scene (S), a very
vulgar word (L), and a strongly suggestive sexual dialog (D).
TV-MA indicates a television program for adults and
inappropriate for children of 17 years of age and under,
which includes one or more of a severe violent scene (V), a
direct sexual expression (S), and a strongly vulgar word (L).
In this parental guideline, as shown by marks x in Fig.
2, fantasy violence (FV), a violent scene (V), a sexual
situation (S), a language for adults (L), and a suggestive
sexual dialog (D) included in TV-Y7, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA
are indicated.
In the television receiving set according to the first
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 26 -
embodiment, video signals received by the antenna 1 are sent
to the tuners 3a and 3b through the distributor 2. The
tuners 3a and 3b select video signals to be reproduced,
according to the control signals sent from the host
microcomputer 10 and based on the direction input of the
user, and send the selected video signals to the switch
circuit 5.
The television receiving set of the present embodiment
can receive a video signal sent from an external apparatus
such as a VCR (video cassette tape recorder) or a laser disc
player through the external input terminal 4. The video
signal input through the external input terminal 4 is sent
to the switch circuit 5.
According to the control signal sent from the host
microcomputer 10, the switch circuit 5 assigns the main
video signal whose image is to be displayed on the parent
window and the sub video signal whose image is to be
displayed on the child window, among the video signals sent
from the tuners 3a and 3b and the video signal input through
the external input terminal 4.
In the television receiving set according to the first
embodiment, the main video signal whose image is to be
displayed on the parent screen is sent from the switch
circuit 5 to the host microcomputer 10 and the blocking
processing section 6. The sub video signal whose image is
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 27 -
to be displayed on the child window is sent to the rating
information processing circuit 21 and the blocking
processing section 22.
In the television receiving set according to the first
embodiment, the host microcomputer 10 extracts the rating
information added to the main video signal sent from the
switch circuit 5 and detects information related to a rating
level in the extracted rating information, which is to be
compared with the rating level information held by the RAM
l02.
The host microcomputer 10 compares the detected
information related to a rating level with the rating level
information held by the RAM 102, determines whether the
image display output of the main video signal is allowed in
the television receiving set of the first embodiment, and
controls the blocking processing section 6 according to the
determination result.
Specifically, the host microcomputer 10 in the first
embodiment slices the main video signal to obtain the signal
added to the 21st horizontal period in a vertical blanking
period, and extracts the rating information added to the
main video signal. The extracted rating information has two
bytes in a rather complicated format as described above.
Therefore, the host microcomputer 10 decodes the rating
information detected by slicing to obtain information
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 28 -
related to a rating level in a format which provides easy
comparison with the rating level information held by the RAM
l02. The information related to a rating level has, for
example, the same number of bits as the rating level
information held by the RAM 102.
The host microcomputer 10 compares the information
related to a rating level detected by decoding, with the
rating level information held by the RAM l02. When the
rating level of the information related to a rating level is
lower than that of the rating level information held by the
RAM 102, the host microcomputer 10 determines that the image
display output of the main video signal is allowed in the
television receiving set of the present embodiment, and
controls the blocking processing section 6 such that the
main video signal is sent from the switch circuit 5 to the
video processor 7.
Conversely, when the rating level of the information
related to a rating level is higher than that of the rating
level information held by the RAM 102, the host
microcomputer 10 determines that the image display output of
the main video signal is not allowed in the television
receiving set of the present embodiment, and controls the
blocking processing section 6 such that the main video
signal is not sent from the switch circuit 5 to the video
processor 7.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 29 -
In other words, when the specified rating level
information indicates, for example, that a program
inappropriate for children of less than 14 is not output,
the images of video signals having rating information lower
in a rating level than the specified information, such as a
program (TV-Y) appropriate for children of six years of age
and below and a program (TV-Y7) appropriate for children of
seven years of age and above, are output. In this case, the
images of video signals to which rating information higher
in a rating level than the specified rating level
information is added, such as a program (TV-14)
inappropriate for children of less than 14 or a program (TV-
MA) inappropriate for children of less than l7, are not
output.
As described above, the blocking processing section 6
blocks the main video signal under control of the host
microcomputer 10 to disable the image display output of the
main video signal.
On the other hand, the rating information processing
section 21, which receives the sub video signal from the
switch circuit 5, slices the sub video signal to obtain the
signal added to the 21st horizontal period in a vertical
blanking period, and detects the rating information added to
the sub video signal. Namely, in the first embodiment, the
rating information processing section 21 serves as rating
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 30 -
information detecting means. The rating information
detected by the rating information processing circuit 21 is
sent to the host microcomputer 10.
The host microcomputer 10 decodes the rating
information sent from the rating information processing
circuit in the same way as for the rating information
detected from the main video signal, described above, to
obtain information related to a rating level in a format
which provides easy comparison with the rating level
information specified by the user. The host microcomputer
compares the detected information related to a rating
level with the rating level information specified by the
user and stored in the RAM 102.
When the rating level of the information related to a
rating level for the sub video signal is lower than that of
the rating level information stored in the RAM 102, the host
microcomputer 10 determines that the image display output of
the sub video signal is allowed in the television receiving
set of the present embodiment, and controls the blocking
processing section 22 such that the sub video signal is sent
from the switch circuit 5 to the chroma decoder 23.
Conversely, when the rating level of the information
related to a rating level for the sub video signal is higher
than that of the rating level information stored in the RAM
102, the host microcomputer 10 determines that the image
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 31 -
display output of the sub video signal is not allowed in the
television receiving set of the present embodiment, and
controls the blocking processing section 22 such that the
sub video signal is not sent from the switch circuit 5 to
the chroma decoder 23.
When the image of the sub video signal is allowed to be
displayed on the child window, since the sub video signal is
not blocked by the blocking processing section 22, as
described above, it is sent to the chroma decoder 23,
predetermined processing for a video signal whose image is
to be displayed is applied, and the resultant signal is sent
to the PIP controller 24.
The PIP controller 24 receives the positional
information of the child window from the host microcomputer
10, generates a video signal for the child window used for
displaying an image on the child window, from the video
signal sent from the chroma decoder 23, and sends it to the
video processor 7.
The video processor 7 applies processing such as
combining the main video signal of which the image display
output is allowed in the television receiving set and whose
image is to be displayed on the parent window, with the
video signal for the child window which has been generated
from the sub video signal of which the image display output
is allowed, to form a video signal for display for
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 32 -
displaying the images for the parent and child windows on
the CRT 9. The formed video signal for display is amplified
by the video amplifier 8 and sent to the CRT 9. With this
operation, the image of the main video signal is displayed
on the parent window of the display screen of the CRT 9, and
the image of the sub video signal is displayed on the child
window, which is formed at a part of the parent window.
In the television receiving set according to the first
embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3, the image of the main video
signal is displayed on the parent window 9M on the display
screen of the CRT 9, and the image of the sub video signal
is displayed on the child window 9S on the display screen of
the CRT 9.
In the television receiving set according to the first
embodiment, as described before, the rating information is
detected in each of the video signals of which the images
are displayed on the parent and child windows, and according
to each rating information, image display control is
separately performed for the main video signal whose image
is displayed on the parent window and the sub video signal
whose image is displayed on the child window.
Therefore, when the output of the main video signal
whose image is to be displayed on the parent window 9M is
allowed in the television receiving set according to the
first embodiment and the output of the video signal whose
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 33 -
image is to be displayed on the child window 9S is not
allowed in the television receiving set, only the image of
the main video signal is displayed on the parent window 9M,
and the image of the sub video signal is not displayed on
the child window 9S. In this case, the child window 9S is
shown in blue.
When the output of the main video signal whose image is
to be displayed on the parent window 9M is not allowed in
the television receiving set and the output of the video
signal whose image is to be displayed on the child window 9S
is allowed in the television receiving set, the image of the
main video signal is not displayed on the parent window 9M,
and only the image of the sub video signal is displayed on
the child window 9S. In this case, the display area of the
parent window is shown in blue.
When both the output of the main video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the parent window 9M and the
output of the sub video signal whose image is to be
displayed on the child window 9S are allowed, the images of
the video signals are displayed on the parent window 9M and
the child window 9S, respectively. When neither the output
of the main video signal nor the output of the sub video
signal is allowed in the television receiving set, neither
the image of the main video signal nor the image of the sub
video signal is displayed on the parent window 9M or the
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 34 -
child window 9S.
As described above, in the television receiving set
according to the first embodiment, appropriate reproduction
control is applied not only to the main video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the parent window 9M but also to
the sub video signal whose image is to be displayed on the
child window 9S according to the rating information added to
the sub video signal.
Modified embodiments
In the first embodiment, the rating information
processing circuit 21 detects the rating information added
to the 21st horizontal period in a vertical blanking period
of the sent sub video signal, and sends it to the host
microcomputer 10 as is. The host microcomputer 10 decodes
the rating information sent from the rating information
processing circuit 21 and compares with the rating level
information. According to the result of this comparison,
the host microcomputer 10 controls the blocking processing
section 22.
The rating information processing circuit 21 can have a
decoding function for the detected rating information to
reduce the load of the host microcomputer 10.
In other words, the rating information processing
section 21 slices the sent sub video signal to obtain the
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 35 -
signal added to the 21st horizontal period in a vertical
blanking period, and detects the rating information added to
the sub video signal. The rating information processing
circuit 21 decodes the detected rating information to obtain
information related to a rating level in a format which
provides easy comparison with the rating level information
specified by the user, and sends the information related to
a rating level to the host microcomputer 10.
The host microcomputer 10 receives the information
related to a rating level from the rating information
processing circuit 21, and compares the information related
to a rating level with the rating level information held by
the RAM 102. With this operation, the host microcomputer 10
determines whether the sub video signal whose image is to be
reproduced on the child window is a video signal whose
output is allowed in the television receiving set, and
controls the blocking processing section 22.
With this configuration, since the host microcomputer
does not need to decode the rating information sent from
the rating information processing circuit 21 to obtain the
information related to a rating level, the load of the host
microcomputer 10 is not increased.
The rating information processing circuit 21 may
further compare the information related to a rating level
with the rating level information. In this case, the host
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 36 -
microcomputer 10 needs to send the rating level information
specified by the user to the rating information processing
circuit 21.
The rating information processing circuit 21 compares
the rating level information sent from the host
microcomputer 10 with the information related to a rating
level detected in the rating information extracted from the
video signal, and determines whether the sub video signal is
allowed to be output in the television receiving set.
The rating information processing circuit 21 then sends
information obtained from the comparison, namely,
information indicating whether the sub video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the child window is allowed to
be output in the television receiving set, back to the host
microcomputer 10 as return data. The return data is sent
from the rating information processing circuit 21 to the
host microcomputer 10 through a bus connecting the host
microcomputer 10 to the rating information processing
circuit and other circuits. It can of course be returned by
the use of a port, namely, by a high/low-level signal at the
port.
The host microcomputer 10 controls the blocking
processing section 22 according to the return data sent from
the rating information processing circuit 21. In this case,
the host microcomputer 10 does not need to perform decoding
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 37 -
or comparison for the rating information detected in the sub
video signal whose image is to be displayed on the child
window. In other words, since the host microcomputer 10
controls the blocking processing section 22 according to the
return data sent from the rating information processing
circuit 21, the load of the host microcomputer 10 does not
increase.
As described above, when the rating information
processing circuit 21 extracts the rating information from
the sub video signal whose image is to be displayed on the
child window, detects the information related to a rating
level in the extracted rating information, and performs
comparison with the rating level information specified by
the user, the rating information processing circuit 21 can
directly control the blocking processing section 22.
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
in which a rating information processing circuit 21 directly
controls a blocking processing section 22. In this case, as
described above, the rating information processing circuit
21 compares the rating level information with information
related to a rating level obtained by decoding the rating
information extracted in the sub video signal to determine
whether the sub video signal whose image is to be displayed
on the child screen is allowed to be output in the
television receiving set.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 38 -
The rating information processing circuit 21 outputs,
for example, a high-level signal to the blocking processing
section 22 when it determines that the sub video signal is
not allowed to be output, and outputs a low-level signal
when it determines that the sub video signal is allowed to
be output.
With this, the blocking processing section 22 does not
output the sent sub video signal when it receives a high-
level signal from the rating information processing circuit
21, and outputs the sent sub video signal to a chroma
decoder 23 when it receives a low-level signal.
With this operation, since the host microcomputer 10
only needs to send the rating level information to the
rating information processing circuit 21 with respect to
blocking processing for the sub video signal whose image is
to be output on the child window, the load of the host
microcomputer 10 does not increase.
Also in this case, the host microcomputer 10 controls
the blocking processing section 6, which applies blocking
processing to the main video signal, and the rating
information processing circuit 21 controls the blocking
processing section 22, which applies blocking processing to
the sub video signal. Control is thus separated.
As described above, in the television receiving set
according to the first embodiment, image display outputs are
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 39 -
controlled for the main video signal whose image is to be
displayed on the parent window and the sub video signal
whose image is to be displayed on the child window,
according to the rating information added to each video
signal.
The rating information added to the main video signal
is detected by the host microcomputer 10, and the rating
information added to the sub video signal is detected by the
rating information processing circuit 21. With this
configuration, a large load is not applied to the host
microcomputer 10, processing for the sub video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the child window is not delayed,
and the display of the sub video signal is controlled
according to the rating information added to the sub video
signal in the same way as for the main video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the parent window.
In a television receiving set having a multi-window
function which allows the screen to be divided into three or
more windows, the image display output of each video signal
is controlled according to the rating information added to
each video signal by providing rating information processing
circuits 21 correspondingly to the number of sub video
signals to be handled even if a plurality of sub video
signals are handled.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 40 -
Second embodiment
In the television receiving set according to the first
embodiment, described above, the main and sub video signals
which are determined to be not allowed to be displayed are
blocked by the blocking processing section 6 and the
blocking processing section 22. If a video signal is
blocked in this way, since an image is not displayed, the
parent window 9M or the child window 9S, on which an image
was to be displayed, is shown, for example, in blue as
described above.
In this case, the user of the television receiving set
cannot immediately understand why an image is not displayed,
and may think that the television receiving set is out of
order. Therefore, when a video signal is blocked according
to rating information, it can be considered that a message
indicating that an image is blocked is displayed.
When message information is~shown in the child window,
since the child window has a small display area formed at a
part of the display screen of the CRT 9 as also shown in Fig.
3, the display position of the message information and the
size of the message information to be displayed need to be
adjusted according to the size of the child window and the
position of the child window on the display screen of the
CRT 9. This means that display processing becomes
complicated.
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 41 -
When the sub video signal whose image is to be
displayed on the child window is blocked, a television
receiving set according to a second embodiment allows a
message indicating the condition to be displayed on the
child window relatively easily without performing
complicated processing.
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a television receiving set
according to the second embodiment. As shown in Fig. 5, the
television receiving set according to the second embodiment
is configured in substantially the same way as for the
television receiving set according to the first embodiment,
described before by referring to Fig. 1, except for a rating
information processing circuit 21A and a switch circuit 25.
Therefore, in Fig. 5, the same symbols as those in Fig. 1
are assigned to the portions corresponding to those in the
television receiving set according to the first embodiment,
and the descriptions thereof will be omitted.
The rating information processing circuit 21A extracts
rating information from the sub video signal, detects
information related to a rating level by decoding the
extracted rating information, and compares the detected
information related to a rating level with rating level
information.
The rating information processing circuit 21A
determines whether the image of the sub video signal is
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 42 -
allowed to be displayed in the television receiving set by
the comparison between the information related to a rating
level and the rating level information, and sends the
comparison result back to the host microcomputer 10 as
return data. With this operation, the host microcomputer 10
controls the blocking processing section 22 such that
reproduction control is performed for a second video signal
according to the rating information added to the sub video
signal.
In addition, the rating information processing circuit
21A has a so-called on-screen display (OSD) function, which
displays display information such as characters, figures,
and illustrations on the screen, in the television receiving
set according to the second embodiment. In other words, in
the second embodiment, the rating information processing
circuit 21A is provided with an OSD processing section 21l
serving as display information generating means for
generating a signal for displaying display information such
as characters, figures, and symbols on the child window.
When the rating information processing circuit 21A
determines that the sub video signal is not allowed to be
output in the television receiving set, it sends return data
indicating the condition back to the host microcomputer 10,
and blocks the sub video signal so that the image of the sub
video signal is not displayed. The rating information
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 43 -
processing circuit 21A controls the OSD processing section
21l such that a video signal for displaying display
information indicating that the image of the sub video
signal is not displayed because the sub video signal is
blocked is generated and is sent to an end of the switch
circuit 25.
As shown in Fig. 5, a video signal is sent to the other
end of the switch circuit 25 from the chroma decoder 23. In
this case, the rating information processing section 21A
switches the switch circuit 25 so as to output the signal
sent from the OSD processing section 21l.
With this operation, the video signal for displaying
display information sent from the OSD processing section 211
is sent to the PIP controller 24. The PIP controller 24
converts the video signal from the OSD processing section
211 to a signal for the child window according to the
positional information of the child window and other pieces
of information sent from the host microcomputer 10, and
sends it to the video processor 7, as described before. The
video processor 7 combines the main video signal with the
video signal for the child window which has been formed by
the OSD processing section 211 and processed by the PIP
processing section 24, and sends it to the CRT 9 through the
video amplifier 8.
With this operation, when the sub video signal whose
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 44 -
image is to be displayed on the child window is blocked
because it is not allowed to be output in the television
receiving set, a display information, for example, of "Being
blocked" formed by the signal generated by the OSD
processing section 211 is displayed on the child window 9S
as shown in Fig. 6. With this operation, the condition in
which an image is not displayed on the child window because
the sub video signal is blocked is reported to.the user.
In this case, in the television receiving set according
to the second embodiment, the display information is
displayed on the child window 9S just by sending the video
signal for displaying the display information from the OSD
processing section 211 to the PIP controller 24 instead of
the sub video signal. In other words, after the display
signal of the display information is generated by the OSD
processing section 211, the display information is displayed
on the child window 9S without performing special
processing.
In this case, since the PIP processing circuit 24
applies only the same processing to the signal sent from the
OSD processing circuit 211 as that usually applied to the
sub video signal, the display position of the display
information does not shift and the size of the display
information does not become inappropriate.
When the main video signal whose image is to be
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 45 -
displayed on the parent window is blocked because it is not
allowed to be output in the television receiving set,
message information indicating that the signal is blocked
can be displayed on the parent window.
In this case, when the host microcomputer 10 determines
that the main video signal whose image is to be displayed on
the parent window is not allowed to be output in the
television receiving set, for example, the host
microcomputer 10 sends message information indicating that
the main video signal is blocked and control information
instructing that the message information is displayed on the
parent window to the video processor 7.
The video processor 7 needs to form a video signal for
displaying the message information on the parent window.
With this operation, when neither the main video signal
whose image is to be displayed on the parent window nor the
sub video signal whose image is to be displayed on the child
window is allowed to be reproduced in the television
receiving set, message information indicating that a video
signal is blocked can be displayed on each of the parent
window 9M and the child window 9S.
Also in the television receiving set according to the
second embodiment, the rating information processing circuit
21A may control the blocking processing section 22 according
to the determination result in the rating information
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 46 -
processing circuit 21A.
Since the rating information processing circuit 21A is
provided with the OSD function in the television receiving
set according to the second embodiment, blocking processing
for a video signal whose image is to be reproduced on the
child window is not required by the use of the blocking
processing section 22.
In other words, when the sub video signal whose image
is to be displayed on the child window is not allowed to be
output in the television receiving set, since message
information generated by the OSD processing section 211 is
displayed, the child window is not disturbed even if
blocking processing is not performed by the blocking
processing section 22. Namely, the OSD processing section
211 applies blocking.
In the television receiving set according to the second
embodiment, the rating information processing circuit 22A
controls the switch circuit 25. The host microcomputer 10
may of course control the switch circuit 25.
As described above, also in the television receiving
set according to the second embodiment, display control is
performed for the main video signal whose image is to be
reproduced on the parent window and the sub video signal
whose image is to be reproduced on the child window,
according to the rating information added to each video
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 47 -
signal.
In addition, when the selected sub video signal whose
image is to be displayed on the child window is blocked
because it is not allowed to be output in the television
receiving set according to the second embodiment, message
information indicating that the signal is blocked can be
displayed on the child window.
As described above, since the OSD processing section
221 of the rating information processing circuit 21A and the
PIP controller 24 perform the processing required for
displaying message information on the child window, a load
is not applied to the host microcomputer. Inconveniences do
not occur such as a shift of message information displayed
on the child window from the child window.
In the first and second embodiments, the present
invention is applied to a television receiving set having a
picture-in-picture function. The present invention can also
be applied to a television receiving set provided with a
multi-window function other than the picture-in-picture
function.
In a television receiving set which allows the CRT
screen to be divided into three or more windows and an image
to be reproduced at the same time on each divided window,
the rating information processing circuit 21 or the rating
information processing circuit 21A described in the first or
CA 02257734 1999-O1-06
- 48 -
the second embodiment is required for each of a plurality of
video signals whose images can be displayed at the same time.
With this configuration, image display output control
is performed for each of a plurality of video signals whose
images are to be displayed at the same time, according to
the rating information added to each video signal.
As described above, even in a case in which three or
more windows can display images at the same time, the load
is prevented from converging only on the host microcomputer
by providing the rating information processing circuit 21 or
the rating information processing circuit 21A for a video
signal used for reproducing an image on each window. In
addition, the display outputs of video signals whose images
are to be displayed at the same time can be positively
controlled according to the rating information of the video
signals.
Therefore, by providing the rating information
processing circuit 21 or the rating information processing
circuit 21A for each of a plurality of sub video signals
whose images can be displayed at the same time by the use of
a multi-window function, without making a large change in
the host microcomputer, appropriate blocking processing is
applied to each video signal in a television receiving set
having various multi-window functions.
